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Ambition sets out global targets for private-sector action by 2030, under each of the
three pillars of climate-smart agriculture (CSA).
1
22.2 The Three Pillars of Climate-Smart Agriculture
Pillar 1: Productivity ambition: “Increase global food security by making 50% more
nutritional food available through increased production on existing land, protecting ecosystem services and biodiversity, bringing degraded land back into productive use and reducing food loss from field to shelf.” The footnotes to this
WBCSD Statement explain that nutritious food means a range of macro- and
micro- nutrients; that ‘ecosystem services’ follow the definition of the Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment and, thus, include cultural as well as ecological services;
and that ‘food loss’ is up to the point of the consumer.
Pillar 2: Climate change resilience, incomes and livelihoods ambition: “Strengthen
the climate resilience of agricultural landscapes and farming communities to
successfully adapt to climate change through agro-ecological approaches appropriate for all scales of farming. Invest in rural communities to deliver improved
and sustainable livelihoods necessary for the future of farmers, bringing prosperity through long-term relationships based on fairness, trust, women’s empowerment and the transfer of skills and knowledge.”
Pillar 3: Climate change mitigation ambition: “Reduce greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions by at least 30% of annual agricultural carbon dioxide equivalent
(CO 2 e) emissions against 2010 levels (aligned with a global 1.6 gigatonnes of
carbon dioxide equivalent per year (GtCO 2 e yr) reduction by 2030). A substantial portion of these reductions will also be achieved through reducing food waste
up to the point of sale to the end consumer, in line with WBCSD’s Action 2020
to halve food waste. Further emissions reductions will come from elimination of
GHG emissions from land-use change to commercial agriculture and land restoration under the WBCSD Land Degradation Neutrality initiative.”
Achievement of the targets will constitute a major contribution to the Paris
Agreement as well as wider societal goals enshrined in the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) and global environmental agreements. Getting there will entail profound change across agrifood chains if total emissions are to fall sharply while food
productivity and farming livelihoods rise. WBCSD sought CGIAR partnership to
improve businesses’ ability to trace, measure and monitor progress on climatesmart agriculture (Vermeulen and Frid-Nielsen 2017). The aim was not to provide a
comprehensive new protocol for member companies, but rather to support monitoring and evaluation by synthesising metrics that businesses and other entities collect
already.
1 Note: these differ slightly from other definitions of CSA, such as that used by the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (FAO 2013).
S. Vermeulen
Ambition sets out global targets for private-sector action by 2030, under each of the
three pillars of climate-smart agriculture (CSA).
1
22.2 The Three Pillars of Climate-Smart Agriculture
Pillar 1: Productivity ambition: “Increase global food security by making 50% more
nutritional food available through increased production on existing land, protecting ecosystem services and biodiversity, bringing degraded land back into productive use and reducing food loss from field to shelf.” The footnotes to this
WBCSD Statement explain that nutritious food means a range of macro- and
micro- nutrients; that ‘ecosystem services’ follow the definition of the Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment and, thus, include cultural as well as ecological services;
and that ‘food loss’ is up to the point of the consumer.
Pillar 2: Climate change resilience, incomes and livelihoods ambition: “Strengthen
the climate resilience of agricultural landscapes and farming communities to
successfully adapt to climate change through agro-ecological approaches appropriate for all scales of farming. Invest in rural communities to deliver improved
and sustainable livelihoods necessary for the future of farmers, bringing prosperity through long-term relationships based on fairness, trust, women’s empowerment and the transfer of skills and knowledge.”
Pillar 3: Climate change mitigation ambition: “Reduce greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions by at least 30% of annual agricultural carbon dioxide equivalent
(CO 2 e) emissions against 2010 levels (aligned with a global 1.6 gigatonnes of
carbon dioxide equivalent per year (GtCO 2 e yr) reduction by 2030). A substantial portion of these reductions will also be achieved through reducing food waste
up to the point of sale to the end consumer, in line with WBCSD’s Action 2020
to halve food waste. Further emissions reductions will come from elimination of
GHG emissions from land-use change to commercial agriculture and land restoration under the WBCSD Land Degradation Neutrality initiative.”
Achievement of the targets will constitute a major contribution to the Paris
Agreement as well as wider societal goals enshrined in the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) and global environmental agreements. Getting there will entail profound change across agrifood chains if total emissions are to fall sharply while food
productivity and farming livelihoods rise. WBCSD sought CGIAR partnership to
improve businesses’ ability to trace, measure and monitor progress on climatesmart agriculture (Vermeulen and Frid-Nielsen 2017). The aim was not to provide a
comprehensive new protocol for member companies, but rather to support monitoring and evaluation by synthesising metrics that businesses and other entities collect
already.
1 Note: these differ slightly from other definitions of CSA, such as that used by the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (FAO 2013).
S. Vermeulen