The contribution of agriculture, forestry and fisheries to global emissions of greenhouse gases is well recognized. So are the critical gaps in information, knowledge and capacity development which need to be addressed with urgency. Meeting these challenges can allow member countries to reduce their emissions through changes to management practices that can simultaneously improve productivity, reduce hunger and increase the resilience of production systems in the coming decades. The new work of FAO on greenhouse gas emissions statistics represents a critical step on this important path. The new FAOSTAT Emissions database, developed jointly by the Climate, Energy and Tenure Division and the Statistics Division, is aimed at improving and disseminating agricultural statistical data for better quantification of greenhouse gas emissions and for the identification of the actions needed to reduce them. This report provides the first comprehensive analysis of the challenges and opportunities that exist to this end in the relevant production sectors, at global and regional level, covering the period 1990-2011.