Research
Informing a Strategy for Reducing Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions in British Columbia
December, 2021
Summary
The Investment Agriculture Foundation (IAF) commissioned Navius Research to evaluate greenhouse gas abatement opportunities in BC’s agricultural sector. The objectives of this analysis are to identify the most promising technologies, fuels and actions that can help reduce emissions from agriculture and to quantify the level of abatement that is likely to be feasible given commercially available and emerging mitigation options.
Highlights:
- Agricultural emissions in BC are likely to grow in the absence of new policies, resulting in an increasing gap between emissions and potential sectoral targets.
- In 2019, agriculture emissions were 17% above 2007 levels. By 2030, this could rise to as much as 30% unless the emissions intensity of agricultural operations declines.
- Mitigation actions are available, or likely to be available in the future, for most sources of agricultural emissions, which could limit this increase to 16% above 2007 levels in 2030.
- Planting cover crops and implementing rotational grazing for cattle are relatively low-cost actions with high abatement potential, making them a natural focus for near-term mitigation efforts.
- Greenhouse gas reductions can be achieved while maintaining agricultural output, provided that policies are designed to incentivize emissions reductions while minimizing compliance costs.
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This study was commissioned and funded by the Investment Agriculture Foundation (IAF).
To learn more about this research, please contact Noel Melton.
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