Many opportunities exist for mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through better management of trees and soils. There is potential for both direct mitigation through better management of carbon in agricultural landscapes and indirect mitigation through reduced pressure on carbon stored in forests, peatlands, and wetlands. Effectively harnessing these opportunities will take bold action in climate change negotiations.
The fourth assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) focuses on direct mitigation in agriculture, concluding that 90 percent of the technical potential for direct mitigation is through sequestration of soil carbon in developing regions, particularly in Southeast Asia, South America, East Asia, and Eastern Africa. The greatest opportunities for cost-effective mitigation are through changes in cropland and grazing land management, restoration of organic carbon to cultivated soils, restoration of degraded lands, and agroforestry.
