Agriculture and Climate Change Win-Wins: How to reduce emissions whilst building resilience

In this instalment of the Climate Risk Podcast we are turning our attention to agriculture, forestry and land use, a sector that both affects, and is affected by, climate change.

Producing approximately 20% of total global greenhouse gasses, agriculture, forestry and land use is considered the second largest source of emissions after energy production, making it a critical focus for global decarbonisation.

But the sector’s sensitivity to changes in temperature and precipitation, as well as extreme weather more generally, means that it is also particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

With that said, there are positives to be drawn out of this situation. This is because many of the responses needed to the sector’s high emissions and physical vulnerabilities overlap to create compelling win-win situations. Well placed investments in agriculture combine emissions reductions with resilience building which, in turn, reduce financial risks for the sector.

To illustrate this, today’s episode will have three points of focus:

• How financial institutions can support the sector in locating and acting upon opportunities to reduce climate risk and build resilience
• The role of data in successfully identifying and responding to these win-wins
• The lessons that we can take from this sector and apply elsewhere

 

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) Website: https://www.edf.org/

Financing Resilient Agriculture Report: https://www.edf.org/sites/default/files/content/Financing_Resilient_Agriculture_Report.pdf

For more information on climate risk, visit GARP’s Climate Resources Hub: https://climate.garp.org/

 

If you have any questions, thoughts or feedback regarding this podcast series, we would love to hear from you at - climateriskpodcast@garp.com

 

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Maggie Monast - Director of Working Lands at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)

 

During the past 10 years, Maggie has held a variety of roles at EDF, working with farmers, food companies, agricultural organizations, and others, such as financial firms, to create an agricultural system that drives climate stability, clean water, and food security. Maggie works to quantify the farm financial impacts of conservation practice adoption, collaborates with major corporations to develop sustainability initiatives, and develops innovative financial incentives to advance sustainable agriculture.