Climate Neutral and Resilient Farming Systems
A global climate crisis is drawing the attention of activists, politicians, scientists, and the general public at large, not only due to the increasing rate of extreme climate events across the world and the severity of the destruction caused by these events to communities and ecosystems but also due to their continuous coverage in the media ( WMO, 2021). At the same time, climate change debate is shaping the political landscape in several countries, with some countries seriously concerned and pressing for immediate action, while others do not see it as an immediate threat, even in the developed world. Lack of adequate information, evidence- based data, and uncertainty in forecasts are helping sceptics and politicians in both developed and developing countries to argue that climate change is not an immediate threat to global society. Such ignorance leads to short- sighted policy decisions and lack of needed transformative action and support for investments to combat climate crises. Since 1990, six assessment reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC) were prepared, and recommendations were made for cutting down greenhouse gas ( GHG) emissions ( IPCC, 2021). Unfortunately, some world leaders do not recognize the seriousness of the threats and fail to stand by the commitments made to reduce emissions. As long as these commitments are not put into action, it will not be possible to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C by the end of the century. The IPCC on the Sixth Assessment Report ( AR6) states that “ it is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land” and that “ widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere have occurred” ( IPCC, 2021a). According to the Report, the world has rapidly warmed by 1.1°C which is higher than pre- industrial levels, and is now moving towards 1.5° C – a critical threshold level that world leaders agreed to maintain and take measures to prevent warming above that level ( IPCC, 2021b). The complex shifts observed in recent years affecting our planet’s weather and climate systems are contributing to the melting of glaciers, sea- level rise, and increase in temperature. The atmospheric carbon dioxide levels reached a record high in 2020, unprecedented in human history as the world was also grappling with one of the worst pandemics ( NORR, 2021). The year 2020 was also one of the hottest years recorded globally, and the hottest ever in Europe that has led to serious forest fires and floods (WMO, 2021). The wild fires in California and Australia, the destructive floods in Germany, and the heat waves in Canada during the summer of 2021 all indicate that the climate crisis is impacting seriously and can no longer be ignored ( GDACS, 2021). The scale of destruction not only to property and infrastructure but also to human life and ecosystems cannot continue to be tolerated, especially in regions and populations that are highly vulnerable. Limiting global warming is only possible by taking drastic measures to cut GHG emissions, while also removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through large- scale carbon sequestration measures ( IPCC, 2021b). The economic instability caused by COVID- 19, with the focus by governments on funding health initiatives combined with priorities to ensure jobs and economic growth, will nevertheless pose a big challenge to combat the climate crisis. This chapter provides an introduction to the climate crisis, followed by a brief overview of the sources and extent of GHG emissions from various sectors in general, and the agriculture sector in particular, and the challenges to reduce emissions from the latter. The chapter then discusses the potential solutions for reducing GHG emissions from the agriculture sector, including technological, investment, and policy support required. A separate section is dedicated to introduce the climate- neutral and resilient farming systems ( CNRFS) concept and the various steps necessary for assessing and developing suitable CNRFS. Towards the end, the chapter provides an outline on the various chapters of the book.
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