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Agricultural production, land use change and forestry generate about one-quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions annually. At the same time, products taken off the land—including food—are among those most sensitive to climate change.

The New Climate Economy project reports that the global area of degraded land—both agricultural and forest—is growing rapidly. Up to a third of all agricultural land in the world is now significantly degraded due to erosion, leaching, salinization and soil compaction. By taking an integrated landscape approach to land use management, there are several practical, specific strategies that would break this pattern and cut annual global greenhouse gas emissions while advancing economic growth, poverty alleviation and food security.

At this seminar, Chris Delgado, a senior fellow at the World Resources Institute who led the New Climate Economy land use work, and Christine Negra, a senior research fellow at EcoAgriculture Partners, discussed landscape management policy and pathways for cutting annual global greenhouse gas emissions through land use interventions for climate-smart agriculture.