Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Tier 4 — Narrative / commentaryPeer-reviewed

Contribution of the land sector to a 1.5 °C world

Stephanie Roe, Charlotte Streck, Michael Obersteiner, Stefan Frank, Bronson W. Griscom, Laurent Drouet, Oliver Fricko, Mykola Gusti, Nancy L. Harris, Tomoko Hasegawa, Zeke Hausfather, Peter Havlík, Joanna I. House, G.J. Nabuurs, Alexander Popp, María José Sanz Sánchez, Jonathan Sanderman, Pete Smith, Elke Stehfest, Deborah Lawrence

Nature Climate Change · 2019

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Summary

This analysis, drawing on integrated assessment modelling and IPCC frameworks, examines how agriculture, forestry, and land management can contribute to limiting global warming to 1.5 °C. The authors evaluate mitigation pathways, quantifying emission reductions and sequestration potential across different land-use strategies whilst accounting for food security, biodiversity, and sustainable development trade-offs. The work suggests that the land sector plays a material but not sufficient role in alone achieving 1.5 °C targets without concurrent deep decarbonisation of energy and industry.

UK applicability

The findings are relevant to UK climate policy and the Committee on Climate Change's carbon budgets, particularly regarding agricultural emissions reduction, peatland restoration, and afforestation targets. UK land-use and farming practices feature within global mitigation scenarios, though country-specific quantification and feasibility analysis would require separate assessment.

Key measures

Greenhouse gas emissions reductions (gigatonnes CO₂-equivalent), mitigation potential by sector and intervention type, land-use change scenarios, climate warming pathways (°C), carbon sequestration rates

Outcomes reported

The study assessed the potential contribution of the land sector—including agriculture, forestry, and related land uses—to climate change mitigation in scenarios limiting warming to 1.5 °C. It evaluated greenhouse gas reduction pathways, carbon sequestration opportunities, and land-use trade-offs across multiple emission scenarios.

Theme
Climate & resilience
Subject
Climate & greenhouse gas mitigation
Study type
Policy
Study design
Policy report
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
Status
Published
Geography
Global
System type
Mixed farming
DOI
10.1038/s41558-019-0591-9
Catalogue ID
BFmor3g9dg-sjahbt

Topic tags

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