Agriculture contributes substantially to global climate change. The sector accounts for roughly a
fifth of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when one considers the full life cycle of production including
agriculture’s role in deforestation. This is a massive number, comparable in scale to the transportation
sector. Further, this ratio can be even higher in developing countries where the agriculture and forestry
sectors together often account for a majority of total emissions. Yet, historically, climate negotiators
and policy makers have paid relatively little attention to the agricultural sector in the global effort to
slow climate change.
A constructive debate on agriculture and climate change is hampered by a false dichotomy
between food security and environmental health. Civil society often approaches agriculture with
an overarching mission of either improving food security and strengthening smallholder livelihoods or
reducing the environmental degradation caused by agricultural systems