Climate Change Mitigation through Land Use Measures in the Agriculture and Forestry Sectors

This research paper examines the potential for climate change mitigation through land-use measures in the agriculture and forestry sectors, focusing on the challenges of integrating these sectors into international policy frameworks like the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. It analyzes technical barriers such as permanence and leakage, the role of REDD in developing countries, and Canada's domestic approach to carbon accounting and emissions trading.

• Agriculture and land-use change, including deforestation, are significant contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for approximately 13% and 17% of total human-induced emissions, respectively.
• Land-use change contributes to about 20% of annual global CO2 emissions, with tropical deforestation being the primary driver. This impact is most pronounced in developing countries, where the land-use change and forestry (LUCF) sector's share of emissions exceeds 100% of the world total because developed countries have reduced their emissions in these sectors.
• Mitigation in the agriculture and forestry sectors is highly cost-effective, particularly in developing countries. The FAO estimates that these projects could cost one-fourth to one-third of total mitigation across all sectors while providing one-half to two-thirds of all estimated emission reductions.
• The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has seen slow uptake in the afforestation and reforestation (A/R) sector due to high preparation costs, data collection difficulties, and the temporary nature of credits (tCERs and lCERs), which makes them less attractive investments than other CDM projects.
• Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) faces several methodological and political hurdles, including disagreements over the definition of 'forest', the role of indigenous peoples' rights, and whether to use a market-based credit system or a fund-based grant approach for financing.
• Technical barriers to including land-use in future agreements include 'permanence' (the risk that sequestered carbon is released by fires or pests), 'leakage' (where mitigation in one area causes emissions to increase elsewhere), and high transaction costs for small-scale farmers.
• Canada's LULUCF sector was a net source of 31.3 megatonnes of emissions in 2006. While cultivated soils act as a sink due to no-till practices, forest land conversion and natural disturbances like the mountain pine beetle infestation since 1999 have made forests a significant source of emissions.
• Canada advocates for a 'forward-looking baseline' (a net-net approach) for forest and agriculture management. This method compares actual emissions and removals to a projected baseline to ensure that countries are not penalized for natural disturbances beyond their control, such as wildfires.
• Canada's domestic regulatory framework, 'Turning the Corner', excludes forest sink projects from the CDM for compliance purposes, citing the complexity added by the temporary nature of those credits.

APA

Murphy, D., De Vit, C., & Nolet, J. (2009). Climate Change Mitigation through Land Use Measures in the Agriculture and Forestry Sectors. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/climate_change_mitigation_land_use.pdf

Chicago

Murphy, Deborah, Caroline De Vit, and Jean Nolet. Climate Change Mitigation through Land Use Measures in the Agriculture and Forestry Sectors. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2009. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/climate_change_mitigation_land_use.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Murphy |first1=Deborah |last2=De Vit |first2=Caroline |last3=Nolet |first3=Jean |title=Climate Change Mitigation through Land Use Measures in the Agriculture and Forestry Sectors |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=March 2009 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/climate_change_mitigation_land_use.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{murphy2009climate, author = {Murphy, Deborah and De Vit, Caroline and Nolet, Jean}, title = {{Climate Change Mitigation through Land Use Measures in the Agriculture and Forestry Sectors}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2009}, month = mar, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/climate_change_mitigation_land_use.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }