Search Climate Insights Directory

This report by RMI examines the environmental impact of synthetic fertilizers and analyzes China's integrated governance framework for reducing fertilizer use and improving efficiency over the last ten years as part of a broader low-carbon transition.

This briefing note by the Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs (TESS) examines the role of agricultural subsidies in driving greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It analyzes the sources of emissions within the agricultural sector, the regional variations in emission intensities, and provides policy recommendations for reforming subsidies to align with climate goals while balancing food security and livelihoods.

This policy brief by the NewClimate Institute examines the inclusion of non-CO2 emissions (methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases) in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), highlighting a general lack of gas-specific quantitative targets and focusing on the potential for China to increase its ambition in the next NDC cycle.

This briefing by Zero Carbon Analytics examines the potential and limitations of using soil carbon sequestration, specifically through regenerative grazing, to offset greenhouse gas emissions from livestock. While some estimates suggest significant carbon uptake potential, the document argues that these gains are often overstated because they fail to account for the finite capacity of soil, the reversibility of carbon storage, and the potent warming effects of methane and nitrous oxide emitted by ruminants.

This research paper introduces an agricultural systems model designed to integrate the assessment of greenhouse gas emissions with food consumption-related health risks and agricultural air pollutant emissions.

This fact sheet from the World Resources Institute explains the sources, scale, and trends of global agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while highlighting the role of new Greenhouse Gas Protocol guidance in helping companies measure and manage their climate footprint.

This fact sheet by the World Resources Institute describes the launch of the GHG Protocol's first international guidelines for the agriculture and livestock sector, providing data on global emissions sources, trends, and mitigation opportunities.

This policy brief advocates for the development and deployment of technologies to track agricultural nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, identifying current barriers such as a lack of cost-effective sensors and coordination. It highlights the 'Ag N2O MMRV Roadmap' as a guide to bridging research gaps and suggests a coordinated strategy involving federal agencies (for research strategy) and state governments (for incubation and incentives) to support a new industry of N2O monitoring services.

This report chapter examines the ecological and economic failures of industrial agriculture and proposes a transition toward 'natural capitalism' in food production. It argues that while industrial methods increased raw output, they did so by depleting natural capital—specifically soil health and genetic diversity—and creating a chemical dependency that threatens long-term food security and climate stability. The text advocates for a shift toward biological farming, perennial polycultures, and ecosystem-based livestock management to restore soil carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

This research paper evaluates the impact of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI) on nitrous oxide (N2O) abatement in the adipic acid sector. While the carbon market successfully incentivized abatement levels of 98% to 100%, which exceed previous technical benchmarks, the authors find that the CDM created significant economic incentives that led to carbon leakage. Specifically, production shifted from non-CDM plants to CDM plants during the 2008-2009 economic downturn, resulting in an estimated 13.5 MtCO2e of issued credits that did not represent real emission reductions.

This policy brief examines the potential impacts of scaling up commercial switchgrass production in the United States, focusing on land-use changes, commodity prices, and environmental consequences.

This working paper examines the environmental and health impacts of nitrogen losses in United States row-crop agriculture and proposes a technical toolkit and policy framework to reduce these losses while maintaining crop yields.