Speaker
Description
The growing negative impacts of climate change on society and ecosystems necessitate accelerating the transition towards sustainable mitigation solutions. Agriculture is responsible for around 12% of EU greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (EEA, 2022). Yet, it also offers significant opportunities for climate change mitigation, notably through the potential of agricultural soils to sequester carbon. However, addressing GHG emissions in agriculture requires the disposition of reliable tools for decision-making and the implementation of measures specifically tailored to the territories (Borghino et al., 2021). This study focuses on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia in Italy, which covers almost 24,000 km2, roughly half of which is used for agriculture. Further attention in this study is given to the Tirso River basin due to its regional significance and representation of Sardinia’s diverse agricultural activities, ranging from intensive animal and crop production to marginal, heterogeneous, and semi-extensive production systems, including agroforestry and sheep farming. We present a “cradle-to-gate” life cycle analysis (LCA) applied to the region of Sardinia to i) estimate agricultural GHG emissions, ii) pinpoint the most contributing sectors and sub-regions, and eventually iii) develop mitigation scenarios and evaluate their potential opportunities within the island’s agricultural context. Estimates of GHG emissions and mitigation potentials are based on the Tier 1 and Tier 2 methods of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories. The region’s significant dedication to animal sector activities, particularly sheep husbandry, despite its semi-extensive nature, along with intensive cattle breeding in the central and western part, makes it a hotspot for GHG emissions. Most crop production sector emissions result from agricultural machinery and fertilizer use, with intensity varying based on land use characteristics. Measures to improve the environmental performance of the region’s agricultural sector are explored, encompassing GHG emissions reduction, avoidance, and carbon stock enhancement in soil and biomass. Among the scenarios analyzed, opportunities emerge from applying sustainable land-based mitigation options such as reduced tillage, organic farming expansion, and agroforestry implementation.
References:
EEA-European Environment Agency, 2022. Annual European Union greenhouse gas inventory 1990-2020 and inventory report 2022.
Borghino, Noélie, Michael Corson, Laure Nitschelm, Aurélie Wilfart, Julie Fleuet, Marc Moraine, Tor Arvid Breland, Philippe Lescoat, and Olivier Godinot, 2021. Contribution of LCA to decision making: A scenario analysis in territorial agricultural production systems. Journal of Environmental Management 287, 112288.
| Keywords | environmental footprint;carbon sequestration;territorial life cycle analysis;land-based solutions;sustainable agriculture |
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