Platform for African – European Partnership in Agricultural Research for Development

Wednesday, May 22, 2024

Achieving Net Zero Emission in the Agri-Food System

22 May 2024 Recipe for a Livable Planet - Achieving Net Zero Emission in the Agri-Food System

Climate change is threatening the world’s efforts to feed a growing population. But the way we produce and distribute our food is also part of the problem, contributing almost a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. That’s more than all of the world’s heat and electricity emissions combined.

This event presented the findings from the latest report, Recipe for a Livable Planet, which identifies the most cost-effective opportunities to reduce emissions across the sector. Watch a lineup of speakers give TED-style talks, and a panel of experts who discussed the challenges and opportunities involved in moving from ambition to action.
  • Juergen Voegele Vice President, Sustainable Development, The World Bank 
  • William Sutton, Global Lead for Climate Smart Agriculture and Lead Agricultural Economist, The World Bank 
  • Gunhild Stordalen Founder and Executive Chair, EAT 
  • Nicholas Stern IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government, London School of Economics 
  • Pierre Thiam Chef, author, and social activist 
  • Cynthia Rosenzweig, Senior Research Scientist, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies 
  • Éliane Ubalijoro, Chief Executive Officer, CIFOR-ICRAF 
  • Elizabeth Nsimadala, Board Member for the Africa Constituency of the World Farmers’ Organisation 
  • Robyn O’Brien Author, speaker, entrepreneur Ashesh Prasann, Senior Agriculture Economist, The World Bank 
  • Alexander Lotsch, Senior Climate Finance Specialist, The World Bank 
  • Ousmane Badiane, Executive Chairperson of AKADEMIYA2063

Resource: 

Sutton, William R.; Lotsch, Alexander; Prasann, Ashesh. 2024. Recipe for a Livable Planet: Achieving Net Zero Emissions in the Agrifood System. Agriculture and Food Series. Conference Edition. © Washington, DC: World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/41468 320 p.


The global agrifood system has been largely overlooked in the fight against climate change. Yet, greenhouse gas emissions from the agrifood system are so big that they alone could cause the world to miss the goal of keeping global average temperatures from rising above 1.5 centigrade compared to preindustrial levels. Greenhouse gas emissions from agrifood must be cut to net zero by 2050 to achieve this goal.

Recipe for a Livable Planet: Achieving Net Zero Emissions in the Agrifood System offers the first comprehensive global strategic framework to mitigate the agrifood system’s contributions to climate change, detailing affordable and readily available measures that can cut nearly a third of the world’s planet heating emissions while ensuring global food security. These actions, which are urgently needed, offer three additional benefits: improving food supply reliability, strengthening the global food system’s resilience to climate change, and safeguarding vulnerable populations.

This practical guide outlines global actions and specific steps that countries at all income levels can take starting now, focusing on six key areas: investments, incentives, information, innovation, institutions, and inclusion.

Calling for collaboration among governments, businesses, citizens, and international organizations, it maps a pathway to making agrifood a significant contributor to addressing climate change and healing the planet.

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