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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 | 2023
Transforming Food Systems Under Climate Change Through Innovation
Global Food and Nutrition Security Bioeconomy

Highlights:

  • Relative to agricultural systems, high-carbon ecosystems – such as forests, peatlands, and mangroves – store large amounts of carbon per unit area.

  • Agricultural expansion often comes at the expense of high-carbon ecosystems, contributing to climate change.

  • Ensuring no further agricultural expansion occurs in high-carbon ecosystems is a substantial climate change mitigation opportunity.

  • The estimated costs of managing forests for climate benefits range from US$2 to 393 billion per year, depending on growth scenarios and carbon prices; this is a bargain compared to the leverage these systems have on climate change and its social costs.

  • Individuals, indigenous people, policies and institutions, and investments are all agents of change and will need to work together to avoid further land conversion.