Presentation at workshop: Reducing the costs of GHG estimates in agriculture to inform low emissions development November 10-12, 2014 Sponsored by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

1. CDM methodologies
for the agriculture sector
Rome, November 2014
Kenjiro Suzuki, Programme Officer,
Standard Setting Unit, SDM Programme, UNFCCC

2. Introduction - CDM
• 160+ countries involved in the CDM
• World’s only truly global GHG mitigation mechanism
• To date, more than
a) 7,500 registered projects and 270 registered PoAs in 105 countries;
b) 1.5 billion certified emission reductions (CERs) issued;
c) 200 unique methodologies developed.

3. Evolution of CDM: Programmes of Activities
Programmes of Activities (PoAs):
• A voluntary coordinated action by a private or
public entity that coordinates and implements
any policy/measure or stated goal, via an
unlimited number of component project
activities (like an “umbrella program”)
• 270 PoAs registered, 40% in Africa
• Benefits:
a) Reduce transaction costs;
b) Access to the CDM is extended to
smaller project activities;
c) Emission reductions can be
continuously scaled up after PoA
registration.

4. Evolution of CDM: Standardized Baselines
Standardized Baselines:
• A baseline established for a Party or a group of Parties to facilitate the
calculation of ER and removals and/or the determination of additionality,
while ensuring environmental integrity
• Standardization shifts the focus from project level to sectoral level.
• 6 approved, 17 under consideration, others being developed (e.g.
PSB0019: Philippines Rice)
• Benefits:
a) Reduce transaction costs;
b) Enhance transparency, objectivity and predictability;
c) Facilitate access to the CDM;
d) Scale up the abatement of GHG emissions;
e) Simplify MRV.
• Relevant to a number of mechanisms: result based financing such as
CDM, NAMAs and future market mechanisms.

5. CDM benefits for Agriculture GHG mitigation projects
• Many of the measures aimed at reducing
GHG emissions have other impacts (Co-benefits);
a) Increasing crop productivity and
improve food security;
b) Supporting technology transfer;
c) Reducing pollution and odour from
waste/wastewater, etc.
• Carbon credits are issued against
performance – CDM offers a financial
incentive to properly manage agricultural
practices

6. CDM Methodologies for the Agriculture Sector
Type Sub-type Methodologies
GHG
Rice
avoidance/
cultivation
destruction
AMS-III.AU (reduced CH4 by adjusted water
management practice in rice cultivation)
Livestock AMS-III.BK (reduced CH4 by strategic feed
supplementation for large ruminants)
Waste
management
AMS-III.D, AMS-III.R, ACM0010, AM0073
(destruction of CH4 from animal manure)
AMS-III.F and ACM0022 (Avoidance of CH4
through composting)…etc
Fertilizer AMS-III.BF (reduced N2O by use of Nitrogen Use
Efficient seeds that require less fertilizer application)
AMS-III.A (reduced CO2 by use of inoculant on
legumes that displaces synthetic nitrogen fertilizers)
Mulching AMS-III.BE (reduced N2O and CH4 by mulching)
Energy
efficiency
AMS-II.P (energy efficient pumping)
AMS-II.F (energy efficiency and fuel switching)

7. AMS-III.AU: Reduced CH4 in rice cultivation
• To change the water regime during the cultivation period from
continuously to intermittent flooded conditions and/or a shortened
period of flooded conditions
• Option 1: Measurements (reference field
approach)
a) At least 3 reference fields to determine
baseline and project emission factor
separately for each group of fields with the
same cultivation pattern
b) Measurements done via closed chambers.

8. AMS-III.AU: Reduced CH4 in rice cultivation
• Simplified approaches to calculate emission reductions using default
values derived from IPCC Tier 1 approach.
• Option 2: Global default
a) Use EFc = 1.30 [kgCH4/ha/day]
• Option 3: Country/region-specific factor
a) Determine country-specific EFc
value [kgCH4/ha/day] through
methane measurement

9. AMS-III.BK: Strategic feed supplementation in smallholder
dairy sector to increase productivity
• Insufficient scientific evidence on effectiveness of a number of feed
supplements to reduce enteric CH4 emissions (e.g. FAO(2013))
• Aim to improve animal production efficiency, i.e. to reduce emissions per
unit of milk through strategic supplementation to large ruminants (i.e.,
cows and/or buffaloes).
a) Supplementation improves digestion and promotes increased productivity
• Emission reductions
a) Calculated: (EFb – EFp) x Project milk production;
b) Emission factor is following IPCC approach:
V4_10_Ch10,
2006 IPCC
• For Gross Energy (GE), stratified multi-stage cluster sampling is
required to collect data on type and quantity of feedstuff.
• Methane conversion factor (Ym) taken from IPCC.

10. CDM experience in MRV and the way forward
Experience in MRV
• Proven MRV rules and processes (more than 200 methodologies
including several agriculture methodologies)
• Operational infrastructure established
Future works
• Top-down and bottom up development of methodologies in other
promising area in the Agriculture sector
• Simplification/standardization of methodologies and processes:
a) Standardized baselines, taking into account national circumstances
(e.g. PSB0019: Philippines Rice)
b) Simplified monitoring approach (e.g. Tiered approach)
c) Simplified PoA regulations
• Collaboration with Regional Collaboration Centers of UNFCCC
• Collaboration with other UN organizations and WB to develop
methodologies

11. Thank you