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The urgency to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, particularly in the agricultural sector, has become paramount in the wake of escalating climate change. This urgency is underscored by the Paris Agreement's ambitious goal of limiting the temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sectors, accountable for 22% of total global emissions, have been identified as significant contributors. This paper addresses the imperative need for strategic and comprehensive actions within agriculture to align with the 1.5°C pathway.
Focusing on two critical crops essential to the modern diet – rice and cocoa – this master's thesis aims to assess GHG emissions comprehensively, identify principal sources of emissions, and propose agricultural interventions with high GHG abatement potential. The research considers India as a major rice producer and exporter and Ivory Coast as the largest cacao bean producer and exporter globally.
Challenges in achieving emission reduction targets include the immense scale and heterogeneity of agricultural production systems. Each production system, influenced by factors such as geography, type of production, and farming practices, exhibits different emission sources and magnitudes. Moreover, farmers lack adequate incentives to adopt novel methods and technologies crucial for climate change mitigation.
The results reveal that direct emissions dominate in rice cultivation, primarily methane and nitrous oxide emissions from flooded paddy rice fields. In contrast, land use changes due to massive deforestation to accommodate growing demand for cacao accounts for most of the emissions in this agricultural sector. The paper identifies interventions such as alternate wetting and drying in rice cultivation and agroforestry in cacao production as effective strategies for climate mitigation.
However, significant knowledge gaps exist regarding the applicability, costs, and barriers to implementing these interventions. Enhanced research and development efforts are necessary to address these gaps and foster adoption by farmers. Transparent methodologies and accurate estimations of GHG abatement are crucial for guiding strategies toward achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and aligning with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
In conclusion, while challenges remain, agriculture holds the potential to achieve net-zero emissions with sufficient support, motivation, and concerted efforts across stakeholders. Enhanced research, development, and adoption of sustainable practices are essential for realizing this potential and mitigating the impacts of climate change on global food security.

greenhouse gases --- carbon footprint --- climate mitigation --- abatement strategy --- rice --- cacao beans --- cocoa --- interventions --- Paris Agreement --- net zero emissions --- climate change --- Ingénierie, informatique & technologie > Multidisciplinaire, généralités & autres

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This article investigates the use of expert-based Marginal Abatement Cost Curves (MACC) to design abatement strategies. It shows that introducing inertia, in the form of the "cost in time" of available options, changes significantly the message from MACCs. With an abatement objective in cumulative emissions (e.g., emitting less than 200 GtCO2 in the 2000-2050 period), it makes sense to implement some of the more expensive options before the potential of the cheapest ones has been exhausted. With abatement targets expressed in terms of emissions at one point in time (e.g., reducing emissions by 20 percent in 2020), it can even be preferable to start with the implementation of the most expensive options if their potential is high and their inertia significant. Also, the best strategy to reach a short-term target is different depending on whether this target is the ultimate objective or there is a longer-term target. The best way to achieve Europe's goal of 20 percent reduction in emissions by 2020 is different if this objective is the ultimate objective or if it is only a milestone in a trajectory toward a 75 percent reduction in 2050. The cheapest options may be sufficient to reach the 2020 target but could create a carbon-intensive lock-in and preclude deeper emission reductions by 2050. These results show that in a world without perfect foresight and perfect credibility of the long-term carbon-price signal, a unique carbon price in all sectors is not the most efficient approach. Sectoral objectives, such as Europe's 20 percent renewable energy target in Europe, fuel-economy standards in the auto industry, or changes in urban planning, building norms and infrastructure design are a critical part of an efficient mitigation policy.

Climate Change Economics --- Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases --- Dynamic efficiency --- Energy and Environment --- Environment --- Environment and Energy Efficiency --- How-flexibility --- Inertia --- MACC --- Marginal abatement cost curves --- Merit-order --- Optimal abatement strategy --- Timing --- Transport and Environment --- When-flexibility