Statistical Land Use Change Emissions From Deforestation and Land Occupation for Crops

The World Resources Institute and collaborators developed a geospatial dataset providing benchmark land use change (LUC) and land occupation (LO) emission factors for 42 major crops for the period 2020–24. The dataset aims to harmonize corporate GHG reporting by providing standardized, jurisdiction-level metrics. 2024 national averages reveal high variability in emissions per tonne of crop, such as soy in Brazil (1.67 tCO₂e) versus the US (0.40 tCO₂e), and highlight that subnational data is necessary to identify emission hotspots.

• The agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) sector accounts for roughly 21 percent of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, with land use change (LUC) contributing approximately half of that amount. For many consumer goods companies, these emissions are the dominant part of their scope 3 GHG inventories.
• World Resources Institute and partners created benchmark jurisdiction-level LUC and LO factors for 42 major crops and crop categories to standardize corporate reporting. These factors cover the years 2020–24 and include emissions from the conversion of forested land—defined as woody vegetation over five meters tall with more than 10 percent canopy cover in 2000—as well as soil carbon losses and yield factors.
• National-level averages for 2024 show significant variation in deforestation-related LUC emissions per tonne of crop. For soy, emissions are 1.67 tonnes of CO₂e in Brazil, 0.59 in Argentina, and 0.40 in the United States. For cocoa, emissions are 27.08 in Indonesia, 24.46 in Côte d’Ivoire, and 6.7 in Ghana. For oil palm, emissions are 0.98 in Indonesia, 0.71 in Malaysia, and 0.42 in Thailand. Subnational data indicates that national averages can mask emission "hotspots."

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Statistical Land Use Change Emissions From Deforestation and Land Occupation for Crops. https://www.wri.org/research/statistical-land-use-change-emissions-deforestation-and-land-occupation-crops

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Statistical Land Use Change Emissions From Deforestation and Land Occupation for Crops. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/statistical-land-use-change-emissions-deforestation-and-land-occupation-crops.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Statistical Land Use Change Emissions From Deforestation and Land Occupation for Crops |url=https://www.wri.org/research/statistical-land-use-change-emissions-deforestation-and-land-occupation-crops |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendstatistical, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Statistical Land Use Change Emissions From Deforestation and Land Occupation for Crops}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/statistical-land-use-change-emissions-deforestation-and-land-occupation-crops}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }