Presentation for the #COP27 side event "Impact of agriculture production on climate change. How do we mitigate and adapt to climate change in agriculture, considering the war and global crises?"
Impact of Agriculture on Climate Change in Ukraine and Solutions to Reduce GHGs emissions
1. Impact of agriculture production on
climate change.
How do we mitigate and adapt to climate change in agriculture,
considering the war and global crises?
2. Impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine
• Contamination with heavy metals and other chemical
substances released during explosions
• Blocking access to agricultural land due to military
activities and mines
• Blocking of grain export from Ukraine and negative
impact on food security in many countries in Africa
and other regions
• Destruction of agricultural facilities (animal farms,
grain storage, fuel storage, etc.)
• GHGs emissions due to fires at farmlands
• Destruction of shelter belts and irrigation systems
• Negative economic impact on agricultural companies
and farmers putting at risk future operation and yields
3. Impact of climate change on agriculture
• The temperature has already increased by 1.5°C
during the last 30 years and during the last decade it
often was 2 °C higher compared to historical values.
• Both minimal and maximum temperatures are
expected to increase further, as well as the frequency
of droughts and extreme weather events.
• Yields are expected to decrease for barley, corn and
sunflower. For wheat the expected temperature
increase could result in increased yields up to 20-40%.
• The uncertainties of the estimates and the risk of
extreme weather events underlines the importance of
climate adaptation measures.
5. GHGs emissions – Livestock sector
Declining emissions to decreasing animal stock - 9.4 Mt CO2e in 2020
Emissions by animal type
(2018 data)
6. GHGs emissions – Agricultural Soils
Increasing due to
growth in mineral
fertilizers use –
31.8 Mt CO2e in
2020
7. GHGs emission - Soil organic carbon loss
From sequestration to major source of emissions – up to 50 Mt CO2e in 2019
8. Mitigation potential of Agriculture sector
Agriculture has a potential to significantly reduce emissions already in
short-term perspective at relatively low cost.
Total emission reduction potential at a price below USD 100 per t of
CO2e is 4 billion t CO2e. Significant share could be achieved at a cost
below 50 (40%) and event 20 USD per t (20%).
The most significant share of emission reductions (3.4 billion t CO2e)
could be achieved by various techniques of carbon sequestration,
including agroforestry, cover crops, conservative tillage and biochar.
The potential for carbon sequestration depends on climate and soil
characteristics and could be limited in dry regions.
9. Technology Needs Assessment
The use of information and telecommunication technologies
for GHG emission reductions in agriculture
Conservative tillage (low-till, no-till, strip-till, etc.)
Organic agriculture
Biogas production from animal manure
Production and use of solid biofuels from agricultural residues
Priority mitigation technologies have been selected and policy
measures to enable their diffusion in Ukraine have been proposed:
10. Mitigation potential of the selected technologies
1-2 MT CO2e
per year
National goal: smart
farming at 30% of
land and USD 100M
in Agtech
0.7 t CO2e
per ha
National goal:
improved soil
quality and climate
adaptation
Approx. 1 t CO2e
per ha
National goal: not
less than 3% from
agricultural land,
USD 1B export
1-2 MT CO2e
per year
National goal:
improved waste
management and
energy security
Up to 10 MT CO2e
per year
National goal:
11.5% in TPES in
2035 for biomass
and waste
11. Nature-based solutions
• Actions aimed at protecting, sustainably managing and
restoring ecosystems for the benefit of people and nature
• NbS create benefits both for mitigation and adaptation to
climate change
• NbS proposed to be supported for carbon sequestration:
✓ Carbon farming on eroded soils (also results in
improved soil and increased yields)
✓ Conservation agriculture and agroecology
✓ Return of “nature” elements to agriculture landscapes
and post-war restoration through rewilding
✓ Agroforestry.
Create "nature islands"
on damaged fields
12. Policy recommendations
1. Amendment of legislation and sectoral policies to define the
concept of NbS and ensure their implementation
2. Financial and fiscal mechanisms for stimulating
implementation and scaling up of NbS
3. Establishing legislative framework for carbon farming
4. Inclusion of NbS into the strategic, program and planning
documents of the national, regional and local levels
5. Development of standards and science-based
recommendations and instructions for NbS
6. Supporting scientific research on NbS
7. Capacity building activities
Learn more at the first Ukrainian
NbS Knowledge Platform at
https://nbs.wwf.ua/
13. Demand side measures
• Emissions in Agriculture sector could also be significantly
reduced due to demand side improvements.
• According to the IPCC AR6 report, roughly 20-40% of
food produced worldwide is lost to waste before it
reaches the market or is wasted by households.
• During the period 2010-2016 global food loss and waste
equaled 8- 10% of total GHG emissions.
• The technical mitigation potential of food loss and waste
reductions globally has been estimated at 0.1-5.8
GtCO2-eq.
• Measures to reduce emissions associated with food
waste include both food waste reduction strategies and
food waste treatment technologies, such as composting
of organic waste.
Photo: Tetiana Pliaczok, УП
Photo: Roman Baluk, Lviv City Council
14. Summary
• Climate technologies in agriculture allows achieving significant emission
reductions in agriculture and enable emission reductions in other sectors –
up to 20 Mt CO2e per year
• Climate technologies also have various co-benefits for climate change
adaptation, environmental protection, and well-being of rural communities
• Climate technologies result in increased economic efficiency and competitive
advantages at international markets
• Creating enabling environment for the diffusion of climate technologies
requires targeted state policy instruments in the area of agriculture, energy,
climate and environmental policy
• Institutions are also important for coordination of actions across sectors,
actors and scales.
15. Let's fight together - and let's win.
António Guterres, Secretary-General of the UN at COP27