Agricultural subsidies and global greenhouse gas emissions

Agricultural production is both affected by and a major contributor to climate change, with agriculture and land-use change accounting for roughly a quarter of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Governments worldwide provide about US$600 billion annually in support to agriculture, yet rigorous quantification of the impact of this support on GHG emissions has been lacking. This study helps fill that gap. It finds that while support has historically incentivized higher-emission farming systems, current support has only a small net impact on additional global GHG emissions from production. This is partly because support is not systematically biased towards high-emission products and partly because trade protection reduces demand for some high-emission products by raising consumer prices. Substantially reducing emissions from agriculture while safeguarding food security will require a comprehensive revamping of existing support to both agriculture and food consumption.

David Laborde, Abdullah Mamun, Will Martin, Valeria Piñeiro, Rob Vos