Skip to main content
Knowledge4Policy
KNOWLEDGE FOR POLICY

Supporting policy with scientific evidence

We mobilise people and resources to create, curate, make sense of and use knowledge to inform policymaking across Europe.

Publication | 2021

The share of agri-food systems in total greenhouse gas emissions - Global, regional and country trends - 1990–2019

HIGHLIGHTS

  • In 2019, global anthropogenic emissions were 54 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq), of which 17 billion tonnes CO2eq, or 31 percent, came from agri-food systems.

  • In terms of single gases, agri-food systems generated 21 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, 53 percent of methane emissions and 78 percent of nitrous oxide emissions globally in 2019.

  • Farm-gate emissions were the largest component of agri-food systems emissions in 2019 with roughly 7 billion tonnes CO2eq, followed by pre- and post-production processes (6 billion tonnes CO2eq) and land use change (4 billion tonnes CO2eq).

  • Emissions from agri-food systems increased globally by 16 percent between 1990 and 2019, but their share in total emissions decreased, from 40 percent to 31 percent, as did the per capita emissions, from 2.7 to 2.1 tonnes CO2eq per capita.

  • In 2019, the composition of agri-food systems emissions varied between developed and developing countries. Pre- and post-production processes accounted for more than half the total in developed countries, while in developing countries farm-gate activities and land use change dominated agri-food systems emissions.

  • In 2019, agri-food systems represented more than 70 percent of total anthropogenic emissions in Africa and South America, the highest among all regions.

  • In 2019, the countries with the largest emissions from agri-food systems were China, India, Brazil, the United States of America and Indonesia, though none of them figured as top emitters per capita.

  • Emissions from farm-gate activities and supply chains were the main drivers of food systems emissions in several developed and emerging economies, including the United States of America, China and India. Conversely, land use change was the largest component in Brazil and Indonesia.