Certification mechanisms for the development of an agriculture with a potential for climate change mitigation

Abstract

The average increase of global temperatures and of the occurrence of extreme climatic events may affect the supply of food in the medium and long terms. Agriculture, livestock, and forestry activities account for almost 30% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – the main causes of global warming. The climatic changes resulting from anthropic processes generate the need to develop an agriculture with the potential to mitigate and reduce GHG. Therefore, the objective of this work was to identify tools for the emission calculation and methodologies, as well as their use to support climate certification systems for agricultural systems and food. It has been found that there are sufficient devices for the development of certification mechanisms, which follow mainly the IPCC guidelines for GHG inventories and the life cycle assessment. Despite the large number of existing eco-labels, only one has been identified as a climatic certification seal for agricultural production chains – the Swedish seal Klimatcertifiering för Mat. Although there are market opportunities, an efficient communication of the purpose of the climate seals still requires improvements.