World Bank released a Recipe For A Livable Planet Report stating that annual investments of USD 260 billion are necessary to cut agrifood emissions in half by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050.The report highlights that this figure is twice the amount currently spent on agricultural subsidies.
Key highlights of the Reports
- “Recipe for a Livable Planet” provides a global strategic framework for reducing the agrifood system’s impact on climate change.
- It outlines how the world’s food production can significantly lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while continuing to ensure global food security.
Potential and Benefits of Agrifood System Reform
- Reduction Potential: The global agrifood system can decrease nearly a third of the world’s GHG emissions through feasible and accessible measures.
- These measures will enhance food security, increase the climate resilience of the food system, and protect vulnerable communities during this transition.
Agrifood’s Role in Climate Change
- Contribution to Emissions: Agrifood contributes roughly one-third of global GHG emissions, more than all of the world’s heat and electricity emissions combined.
- Main Conrtributors of Emissions: About three-quarters of these emissions originate from developing countries, necessitating targeted mitigation actions as per the specific needs of the region.
- Emissions from Food Value Chain: Addressing emissions from the entire food value chain, including land use changes, is critical as over half of the emissions stem from beyond the farm level.
Key Highlights Related to India in the Report
India’s Contribution to Global Agrifood Emissions
- The report identifies India as one of the top 3 countries in terms of total annual agrifood system emissions, along with China, and Brazil.
Cost-Effective Mitigation Potential in India
- The report notes that countries like India, around 80% of the technical mitigation potential in agriculture could be achieved by adopting cost-saving measures alone.
- This represents a major opportunity for India to reduce emissions while also improving agricultural productivity and incomes.
Key Mitigation Options for India
- Key mitigation options for India include better livestock feeding (Harit Dhara, a nti-methanogenic feed) and breeding, fertiliser management, and better water management in water intensive crops.
- A marginal abatement cost curve for India’s agriculture sector shows these are some of the most cost-effective interventions India can pursue to cut agrifood emissions substantially by 2030.
- India needs to curb methane emissions from agricultural production.
- Adopting practices like intermittent irrigation and promoting varieties that emit less methane provide mitigation opportunities.
- India has high rates of food loss and waste. As per Food Waste Index Report 2021, Indian households generate 50 kg of food waste per capita per year.
- Reducing food loss and waste can provides another high-impact, cost-effective avenue for India.
- Need for International Support: India will need international financial and technical support to realise its agrifood mitigation potential.