TOWARDS CARBON-NEUTRAL & CLIMATE-RESILIENT AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS

It is widely accepted that, since entering the Anthropocene, humankind has reached, and probably gone beyond, several planetary boundaries in terms of biosphere integrity (bio-diversity loss and extinctions), climate change, chemical pollution, water and land use. Ag-ricultural activities are partly responsible for the situation, being associated in many areas with soil and water degradation and with a severe erosion of biodiversity, and accounting for about 30% of human greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As a consequence of global change, agricultural production is itself more and more affected by extreme climate events. The fre-quency and intensity of weather-related disasters – heatwaves and cold spells, wildfires, droughts, river and coastal floods and windstorms – are expected to continue to increase, causing an augmentation of fatalities and damages to food and fiber production, as well as to biodiversity and continental ecosystems. Yields of several rainfed crops are leveling off in many European countries. Both water and soil resources will be in increasingly high demand and exposed to rapid degradation through climate change and other stress. Without climate change mitigation and adaptation, this is very likely to generate food insecurity, leading to political disorders and migrations. It is therefore of utmost importance to create climate re-silient and carbon neutral food systems to sustainably increase food production and meet the demand for quality and affordable food for ca. 10 billion people in 2050.

Reaching the target agreed under the Paris Agreement, signed by 195 countries, of a glob-al warming well below 2°C is likely to require net zero emissions (where carbon emissions equals carbon storage) from all sectors, including agriculture, by 2050, since greenhouse gas emissions reductions will be too slow in the intervening years. Increasingly, attention will focus on the agricultural sector, as mitigation in other sectors progresses and as agricul-ture’s percentage share of the remaining total increases. Evidence (such as reported by IPCC and IPBES) shows that alternative agricultural practices can reduce GHG emissions and fossil fuel use, improve the sequestration of atmospheric carbon and potentially partly revert land and water degradation while increasing agricultural yields. Several approaches such as re-ducing emissions from livestock and nitrogen fertilized soils, strengthening soil and forestry carbon sinks, recycling bio-wastes, or changing habits towards more environment-friendly diets, will need to be developed and used in combination to reduce GHG emissions from the agricultural sector, while adapting to climate change.

A long-term vision for a carbon-neutral and climate-resilient agri-food sector able to reduce the damages of climatic hazards and associated health crises for production, food quality and human health, as well as ways to implement it are therefore of crucial importance.

TRANSFORMATION OF CURRENT AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS. Innovations in several areas such as crop and livestock diversification, plant and animal breeding, integrated crop and livestock protection, soil restoration, land use, ecosystem-based adaptation, advanced watershed and water resources management, industrial symbioses, etc., will offer transformation opportunities for climate proofing agri-food systems in Europe and on an international scale.

KNOWLEDGE INTEGRATION. This will be achieved through improved use of information tech-nologies and big data approaches, especially through open data, participatory research and dialog with multiple stakeholders that can be tested in living labs.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION DEVELOP-MENT AND DEPLOYMENT. To ensure a global transition, it will be necessary to address the challenge at the international level, and to support international policies based on scientifical-ly-sound innovations.

STATE OF PLAY

BOTTLENECKS TO OVERCOME

TOWARDS CARBON-NEUTRAL & CLIMATE-RESILIENT AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS

The major expected impact is the development of agri-food systems able simultaneously to re-duce the climate and environment footprint of agriculture and to provide foods of good quality and low price to all populations.

It is also expected that setting up an ambitious objective of moving towards carbon-neutral and climate-resilient agri-food systems will lead the rural and urban communities to adopt more virtuous behaviours in terms of food production and consumption.

Carbon-neutral and climate-resilient food systems will not result from a simple evolution of the current systems, but rather from their in-depth transformation at different levels, from produc-tion to retail. This will necessitate a holistic approach at the territorial level, which may deeply transform rural areas.

Transforming European agri-food systems in order to render them more resilient to climatic haz-ards and to limit the amplitude of variability in European foods availability is a crucial objective for European food security.

The EU has established a comprehensive policy framework in the Energy Union strategy. The Effort Sharing legislation establishes binding annual greenhouse gas emission targets for Mem-ber States for the periods 2013–2020 and 2021–2030. These targets concern emissions from most sectors not included in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), including agriculture.

Even if separate activities in different countries support numerous advances, it is essential to establish a genuine European cooperation around a common vision and shared objectives and instruments. To meet this challenge, large plans have been implemented for fundamental and applied research across Europe, clearly placing European agriculture at the forefront of the fight against climate change. As an example, the Joint Programming Initiative on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change (FACCE-JPI) began in 2010 with the goal of providing coherence in research programming across Europe to meet the societal challenge of jointly ensuring food se-curity, adaptation to climate change and mitigation of greenhouse gases emissions. After eight years, it has resulted in several concrete achievements that have strengthened cross-border col-laboration in Europe.

IMPACT

EUROPEAN RESEARCH

AMBITIONS

B4ESTAdaptive BREEDING for productive, sustainable and resilient FORESTs

under climate change

TOWARDS CARBON-NEUTRAL & CLIMATE-RESILIENT AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMSAGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS

(I) REDUCE NON-CO2 GHG EMISSIONS

• Exploring the main sources for CH4 emissions variability in ruminants, especially from

enteric fermentation of cattle, and the ways to control them. Assessing if the genetic control of CH

4 emission by cows is an interesting way for reducing European herd CH

4

emission. Developing adequate feeding and/or use of specific ingredients as a com-plementary way for reducing enteric CH

4 emissions.

• Developing manure management techniques at the barn, pasture, farm and territorial levels, combined and optimized to reduce N

2O and NH

4 emissions and better store

carbon in soils while increasing their quality and biodiversity.

• Studying the possibilities to increase the efficiency and reliability of organic fertiliz-ers in order to replace mineral ones, and improve fertilizer use efficiency, e.g. through precision agriculture.

• Exploring the main sources of N2O emissions by crops and other plant production sys-

tems. Better using biological N fixation potential from legumes in order to reduce the use of N fertilizers. Checking the genetic variability of plant roots and their ecosystems that can be used in plant breeding to reduce N

2O emissions.

• Measuring precisely and identifying possible reduction points of GHG emissions in the agri-food industry and retail chains. This includes reducing wastes through improved process management and by recycling non-consumed products.

(II) SOIL ORGANIC CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND AGROFORESTRY. Increasing soil organic carbon stocks, and preserving existing stocks especially in organic soils such as peatlands, has a large potential both for climate mitigation and for climate change adaptation through improved water conservation as shown by the 4 per 1000 initiative on Soils for Climate and Food Security.

• Improving soil information systems and generating high resolution maps of soil or-ganic matter, as well as carbon budgeting methods based on combination of remote sensing, soil, management and climate data.

• Studying the technical potential of soil organic carbon sequestration in both crop-lands and grasslands and assessing the costs and barriers of technical options.

• Co-designing with stakeholders soil carbon sequestration demonstrators and study-ing the implications for environment and for socio-economics.

• Due to the large area of grasslands in the EU, specific approaches should be imple-mented to explore their potential for improving carbon storage while reducing meth-ane and N

2O emissions and developing high value livestock production systems.

• Crop diversification, use of cover crops, of hedges and agroforestry options that are compatible with adaptation to climate change.

(III) INCREASING THE RESILIENCE OF AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS without increasing their environ-mental impacts:

• Modeling and designing crop and livestock production systems better adapted to current and future climatic variability, including heat waves, droughts, intense precip-itations and floods.

ACTIONS TO BE UNDERTAKEN

• Designing improved conservation options of soil, water and genetic diversity resourc-es in order to support climate change adaptation of agriculture. Improving watershed management and irrigation efficiency and increasing soil organic matter to improve water retention by soils.

• Developing remote sensing, advanced crop monitoring and weather based insurance systems.

• Breeding for heat tolerance in animal and plant species and for drought and flood tolerance in crop species.

• Developing food processing adapted to increased variability in the quality of plant products and able to valorize diversified cropping systems.

(IV) COMBINE EMISSIONS, SINKS AND RESILIENCE OF FOOD SYSTEMS. Reducing GHG emis-sions, increasing carbon sinks and resilience of food systems should not be considered separate-ly but rather be combined into a holistic approach, including:

• National and regional visions of futures, by assessing knowledge, creating transition pathways towards carbon neutral resilient food systems and refining these pathways, with support of models, data and research, through stakeholder dialog.

• Develop regional pilots with stakeholders. Through open innovation and participatory research these regional pilots will prototype carbon neutral resilient food systems and will contribute to capacity building.

• Combining food and non-food plant production at different scales (farm, territory and country) to climate adaptation and mitigation.

(V) CONTINUE TO SUPPORT BASIC SCIENCE TO DOCUMENT:

• The underlying mechanisms for GHG emissions and carbon storage, including:

. Photosynthesis, which may constitute a solution to increase CO2 capture while

producing food from plant products.

. Microbial ecosystems, especially in rumen and soil, in order to better understand their complex dynamics and reduce their emissions.

. N2O uptake in the rhizosphere to reduce corresponding emissions.

• The mechanisms associated to a better resilience of food systems, including:

. Mechanisms of adaptation of plants to drought.

. Mechanisms of adaptation of plants and animals to episodes of severe changes of ambient temperature.

. Biological and epidemiological processes in crop and livestock systems as affect-ed by environmental conditions and climate change.

• The impacts (including direct and indirect effects) of current agricultural practices and proposed alternatives on biodiversity at various scales, from field to landscape in rural areas.

TRANSFORMING AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS: RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

PRIORITIES CONTRIBUTING TO THE EUROPEAN BIOECONOMY

TOWARDS CARBON-NEUTRAL & CLIMATE-RESILIENT AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMSAGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS

147, rue de l’Université75338 Paris Cedex 07France

Tél. : + 33 1 42 75 90 00inra.fr

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CONTACT :Isabelle Albouy, Head of European Affairs: isabelle.albouy@inra.fr

Thierry Caquet, Scientific Director Environment: thierry.caquet@inra.fr