status is currently not quite clear. The concept of
low carbon development has its roots in the
UNFCCC adopted in Rio in 1992 (UNEP 2008).
The development of a low carbon economy is
one of the priorities adopted by the European
Parliament and the Council of the European
Union, the 7th General Union Environment
Action Programme to 2020 (European Commission 2014). This requires the integration of all
aspects of low carbon technologies and practices,
efficient energy solutions, clean and renewable
energy as well as environmentally friendly
technological innovation. It also coincides with
the objectives and priorities of the Europe 2020
Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive
growth (European Commission 2010).
In order to effectively transform the Polish
economy, appropriate actions should be planned
not only on a national and regional scale but also
at the local level. To this end, local low carbon
economy plans have been created. These are
important strategic documents which are to
determine the vision of communes (according to
Local Administrative Units—LAU level 2)
development towards a low carbon economy and
to increase the chances of success for local
authorities in applying for EU funds in the 2014‒
2020 financial perspective. They are equivalent
to the Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAP)
—key documents developed by the signatories of
the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy,
an association of more than 6 thousand local
governments from Europe and beyond. The
tasks, which are included in these plans, should
focus on low carbon and resource-efficient
activities aimed at improving energy efficiency
and use of renewable energy sources in all sectors of the economy with the participation of
producers, consumers of energy, residents, local
authorities, and institutions. Meanwhile, in the
currently prepared low carbon economy plans,
particular attention is being paid to the energy,
construction and transport sectors while agriculture and rural areas are being treated marginally
(Wiśniewski and Kistowski 2016, 2017a, b).
This trend is observed not only in Poland but also
in other European and world countries (Bao
2012; Tinsley 2014; Qu et al. 2016).
It should be noted that agriculture has been
identified as a major contributor to atmospheric
greenhouse gases on a global scale with about
14% of global GHG emissions coming from this
sector (IPCC 2013). According to Richards et al.
(2015), agriculture contributes an average of 30%
of countries’ total GHG emissions. This is higher
than the IPCC global estimate of agriculture’s
contribution to emissions because of the large
number of countries where agricultural emissions
are low but relatively important in national
greenhouse gas budgets. According to these
authors, in 42 countries, agriculture contributes
more than half of GHG emissions. In 91 countries
agriculture contributes ! 20% of greenhouse gas
emissions. The two regions with the highest
average contribution of agricultural emissions are
West and East Africa. However, agricultural
emissions are also of high importance in Southern
Asia and South America—regions that contribute
substantially to global agricultural emissions.
According to the data presented in Poland’s
National Inventory Report 2017 (The National
Centre for Emissions Management 2017), the
total share of GHG emissions from agriculture in
Poland is 7.7%. It is slightly lower than in many
other European countries (in the EU, an average
of 10.1% of greenhouse gases come from agricultural sources), which results from the fact that
the Polish economy is based on coal and the role
of energy industries in total emissions. It should
be stressed, however, that agriculture in Poland is
the source of 29.8% of national methane emissions and 78.0% of nitrous oxide emissions.
According to the author’s earlier research on the
assessment of GHG emissions from agriculture at
the local level in Poland (Wiśniewski and Kistowski 2018), the share of this sector in total GHG
emissions in some Polish communes amounts to
as much 20‒50%. There is, therefore, an urgent
need to draw attention to the role and importance
of agriculture and rural areas in the development
of low carbon economy at the local level, and to
identify activities in these areas, aiming at the
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and
improvement of the ability to absorb CO 2 , which
can be broadly applied in the planning of low
carbon development of communes.
148
P. Wiśniewski
low carbon development has its roots in the
UNFCCC adopted in Rio in 1992 (UNEP 2008).
The development of a low carbon economy is
one of the priorities adopted by the European
Parliament and the Council of the European
Union, the 7th General Union Environment
Action Programme to 2020 (European Commission 2014). This requires the integration of all
aspects of low carbon technologies and practices,
efficient energy solutions, clean and renewable
energy as well as environmentally friendly
technological innovation. It also coincides with
the objectives and priorities of the Europe 2020
Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive
growth (European Commission 2010).
In order to effectively transform the Polish
economy, appropriate actions should be planned
not only on a national and regional scale but also
at the local level. To this end, local low carbon
economy plans have been created. These are
important strategic documents which are to
determine the vision of communes (according to
Local Administrative Units—LAU level 2)
development towards a low carbon economy and
to increase the chances of success for local
authorities in applying for EU funds in the 2014‒
2020 financial perspective. They are equivalent
to the Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAP)
—key documents developed by the signatories of
the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy,
an association of more than 6 thousand local
governments from Europe and beyond. The
tasks, which are included in these plans, should
focus on low carbon and resource-efficient
activities aimed at improving energy efficiency
and use of renewable energy sources in all sectors of the economy with the participation of
producers, consumers of energy, residents, local
authorities, and institutions. Meanwhile, in the
currently prepared low carbon economy plans,
particular attention is being paid to the energy,
construction and transport sectors while agriculture and rural areas are being treated marginally
(Wiśniewski and Kistowski 2016, 2017a, b).
This trend is observed not only in Poland but also
in other European and world countries (Bao
2012; Tinsley 2014; Qu et al. 2016).
It should be noted that agriculture has been
identified as a major contributor to atmospheric
greenhouse gases on a global scale with about
14% of global GHG emissions coming from this
sector (IPCC 2013). According to Richards et al.
(2015), agriculture contributes an average of 30%
of countries’ total GHG emissions. This is higher
than the IPCC global estimate of agriculture’s
contribution to emissions because of the large
number of countries where agricultural emissions
are low but relatively important in national
greenhouse gas budgets. According to these
authors, in 42 countries, agriculture contributes
more than half of GHG emissions. In 91 countries
agriculture contributes ! 20% of greenhouse gas
emissions. The two regions with the highest
average contribution of agricultural emissions are
West and East Africa. However, agricultural
emissions are also of high importance in Southern
Asia and South America—regions that contribute
substantially to global agricultural emissions.
According to the data presented in Poland’s
National Inventory Report 2017 (The National
Centre for Emissions Management 2017), the
total share of GHG emissions from agriculture in
Poland is 7.7%. It is slightly lower than in many
other European countries (in the EU, an average
of 10.1% of greenhouse gases come from agricultural sources), which results from the fact that
the Polish economy is based on coal and the role
of energy industries in total emissions. It should
be stressed, however, that agriculture in Poland is
the source of 29.8% of national methane emissions and 78.0% of nitrous oxide emissions.
According to the author’s earlier research on the
assessment of GHG emissions from agriculture at
the local level in Poland (Wiśniewski and Kistowski 2018), the share of this sector in total GHG
emissions in some Polish communes amounts to
as much 20‒50%. There is, therefore, an urgent
need to draw attention to the role and importance
of agriculture and rural areas in the development
of low carbon economy at the local level, and to
identify activities in these areas, aiming at the
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and
improvement of the ability to absorb CO 2 , which
can be broadly applied in the planning of low
carbon development of communes.
148
P. Wiśniewski