Linkages between agriculture, environment, and climate change
Agriculture is intricately linked to the environment and climate. Healthy ecosystems and predictable climate are essential for healthy food systems, while the way we produce food and other non-food products can have both positive and negative effects on the environment and climate. Agriculture is one of the main drivers of environmental degradation and climate change, but also a key sector for turning the negative trend.
Diverse and sustainable agriculture helps mitigate climate change, increase biodiversity and build resilience
Sustainable agricultural practices can improve soil health, biodiversity, and access to healthy food and nutrition. Diverse and sustainable agricultural systems are more resilient to changes and contribute to climate change adaptation. Sustainable natural resource management underpins agriculture, which in turn affects women’s empowerment, land rights and rural development. Healthy coral reefs and mangroves act as natural barriers against storms while supporting biodiversity. Promoting an integrated agricultural system where supply chains, markets, and consumption are included can strengthen social, environmental, and economic sustainability at different scales. Integrated approaches, such as agroforestry, can increase carbon uptake and biodiversity while contributing to food security.
Unsustainable agriculture can instead deplete natural resources and ecosystem services, and increase food insecurity and inequality
Unsustainable but perhaps economically productive agriculture can instead cause soil erosion and land degradation, decrease water availability and biodiversity, and impact equitable livelihoods.Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture pose a major challenges and land use changes through agricultural expansion can deplete biodiversity and negatively affect the land rights of Indigenous Peoples and other local communities. Unsustainable fishing practices and climate change deplete fish stocks, disrupt ecosystems, and affect food security for millions of people. Subsidies geared towards practices that are harmful to the environment and human health, such as the use of pesticides, counteract sustainable farming practices, and unsustainable animal production can increase the spread of diseases, as seen as a contributing factor to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, agriculture needs to be balanced across economic, environment and climate change, and social issues, including human and animal health and wellbeing.
