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Developing a Strategic Framework for Greenhouse and Agriculture

An Issues Paper

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Greenhouse is an important issue for Australian agriculture. Agricultural production systems (including land clearing) are responsible for over one-third of Australia's national emissions, a proportion much higher than that of any other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) country apart from New Zealand. As such, the agricultural sector has an important role to play in the national response to reducing Australia's emissions. In addition, agriculture is particularly vulnerable to the potential impacts of climate change, and appropriate adaptive response measures are urgently required.

Australia is committed to playing its part in addressing the global challenge of climate change. The Commonwealth Government is continuing its programs of greenhouse gas abatement, while at the same time examining the implications of the rules finalised in November 2001 at the Conference of the Parties in Marrakesh to ensure that the outcomes are in Australia's best interest. The Commonwealth Government maintains its commitment to reduce emissions to 108 per cent of 1990 levels by 2008-2012.

Any national response to greenhouse in agriculture needs to incorporate economic, environmental, and social considerations, and a number of recent initiatives at the Commonwealth, State, and Industry levels have highlighted need for greater coordinated action at the national level. Some of these initiatives are the establishment of the Greenhouse and Agriculture Taskforce, progress of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Resource Management work program on greenhouse, agricultural components of National and State Greenhouse Strategies, the Greenhouse Challenge program, the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory, the National Carbon Accounting System, the CRC for Greenhouse Accounting, and the Greenhouse Gas Abatement Program.

The Greenhouse and Agriculture Taskforce has commissioned the Australian Greenhouse Office together with Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry - Australia to develop a Strategic Framework for Greenhouse in Agriculture. Developing the Strategic Framework is a two-step process. The current document, Developing a Strategic Framework for Greenhouse and Agriculture: An Issues Paper summarises the key issues that need to be addressed to facilitate greenhouse action in Australian agriculture - including current action and gaps. The second step is the development of the National Plan for Greenhouse and Agriculture which will outline priorities and directions for implementation, taking into account the interests of different sectors and regions.

OBJECTIVES OF THE ISSUES PAPER

This issues paper forms the basis for development of the National Plan for Greenhouse and Agriculture and as such has five objectives:

OBJECTIVE 1: IMPROVING NATIONAL EMISSIONS INFORMATION

The Commonwealth Government is investing significant resources to develop a comprehensive framework and scientific services to monitor and report Australia's emissions reduction and sinks enhancement activities - as required by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Work to estimate future greenhouse emissions informs the development of Australia's greenhouse policy agenda. This provides a basis to assess progress toward international targets and underpins assessment of the effectiveness of existing measures. It also provides least-cost options for further abatement. Australia is committed to improving methodologies to estimate emissions ensuring they meet international reporting guidelines and are calibrated to specific Australian conditions.

This section identifies the current actions and gaps in the development of national approaches to estimating greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration. Key areas for further action to improve estimation of greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural systems include:

Key areas for further action to improve emissions projections and economic analysis include:

OBJECTIVE 2: IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES FOR COST EFFECTIVE ABATEMENT

Key challenges in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases from the agricultural sector include:

The level of scientific and technical information relating to these challenges is generally well below what is needed to design and implement effective abatement, and substantial research and development is needed to identify reasonable new or additional abatement opportunities. It is also clear that new abatement opportunities will not readily be adopted or implemented on-farm unless there are obvious and concurrent productivity or economic benefits, or other practical incentives.

This section presents current actions and gaps for developing cost-effective abatement options in extensive livestock, field crops, and intensive animal production systems. It then discusses the cross-industry opportunities in market-based instruments for cost-effective abatement, development of models to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural systems, identification of carbon sequestration, and bio-energy opportunities for the agriculture sector. Key areas for further action include:

OBJECTIVE 3: INTEGRATING GREENHOUSE ACTION AND NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Degradation of natural resources affects agricultural productivity, conservation of biodiversity, and viability of regional communities and infrastructure. There is significant potential for natural resource degradation in stressed systems to be exacerbated by climate change impacts.

A number of land management practices that can produce complementary greenhouse and natural resource management (NRM) outcomes have been identified and, in some instances, adopted.

This section identifies the current actions and gaps in relation to building synergistic outcomes from greenhouse and NRM initiatives, including NRM investment opportunities, establishing sustainable land management systems, the role of Environmental Management Systems in greenhouse, and industry development and diversification. Key areas for further action include:

OBJECTIVE 4: IMPLEMENTING RESPONSES TO THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

It is clear that agriculture and land management are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide, temperature, temperature extremes, rainfall, and evaporative potential will all have major impact on agricultural productivity, sustainability, and economic return. Appropriate response measures are required to ensure the long term economic viability of Australian agriculture.

Cost effective adaptation strategies need to be developed collaboratively between government, industry, regional communities and research agencies. In many cases adaptation options can be designed to have multiple benefits and hence can assist to enhance productivity and improve natural resource management. Adaptation will need to be relevant for whole farm and regional systems, and be based on a sound understanding of economic and biophysical interactions.

This section identifies current actions and gaps in relation to improving the assessment of potential regional impacts of climate change, and to developing national and sectoral adaptation to climate change. Key areas for further action include:

Integrated regional assessments to identify regions and sectors most vulnerable to climate change; and

Further development and implementation of a national approach to adaptation planning across the agricultural sector.

OBJECTIVE 5: FACILITATING GREENHOUSE ACTION

Coordinated action involving government, industry, and regional communities is fundamental to an effective greenhouse response. This action needs to address both reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing the impacts of climate change.

This section identifies current actions and gaps in relation to government coordination, better information for industry, regional community and landholders, the development of regional and farm level greenhouse tools, and the importance of partnerships in developing an effective response by the agriculture sector. Key areas for further action include:

Improved national coordination and development of national research plans for greenhouse and agriculture;

Improved information on agriculture emissions and implications of greenhouse and climate change, especially for ruminants, pasture, greenhouse sinks, and agricultural soil management;

Development of greenhouse tools to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural systems and to support regional planning; and

Integrating competencies standards into rural and regional capacity-building activities.

Prepared by the Australian Greenhouse Office in consultation with Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry - Australia on behalf of the Greenhouse and Agriculture Taskforce
Published by the Australian Greenhouse Office, the lead Commonwealth agency on greenhouse matters.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2002
ISBN: 1 876536 28 4

IMPORTANT NOTICE - PLEASE READ

This document is produced for general information only and does not represent a statement of the policy of the Commonwealth of Australia.
The Commonwealth of Australia and all persons acting for the Commonwealth in preparing this report accept no liability for the accuracy of or inferences from the material contained in this publication, or for any action as a result of any person's or group's interpretations, deductions, conclusions or actions in relying on this material.
Cover photos © CSIRO
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