Climate change: agroecology, an essential lever

On April 4, the experts of Working Group III (WGIII) published the third and final IPCC report¹. After describing the physical understanding of climate change (WGI) and then addressing its impacts (WGII), the IPCC turned its attention to solutions for mitigating climate change and its effects. Agroecology could be one of them.

Agriculture, between risk and opportunity

Between 2010 and 2019, the AFOLU (Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use) sector was responsible for 13% to 21% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions induced by human activities. At the same time, however, ecosystems have acted as veritable carbon sinks, absorbing around ⅓ of human CO₂ emissions. So, to limit global warming to 1.5°C, the sector’s challenge is to reduce its emissions while improving its carbon sequestration capacities.

Alternative farming methods

To achieve this, a number of measures can be envisaged. They may concern forestry, bioenergy or agriculture. In particular, the IPCC has identified a number of agricultural approaches as alternatives to conventional systems. These include agroecology, conservation agriculture, integrated production systems and organic farming. According to the scientists, these approaches could make it possible to implement several mitigation measures.

Agroecology, a lever in the fight against climate change

The French Ministry of Agriculture defines agroecology as “a way of designing production systems based on the functionalities offered by ecosystems“².

According to the IPCC, it can improve system resilience and generate numerous co-benefits.

Agroecology has the potential to :

• Reducing emissions, by limiting synthetic inputs and improving nitrogen use efficiency.
• Carbon sequestration, thanks to diversified crop rotations, the development of cover crops, the use of natural fertilizers and the inclusion of agroforestry.

Roots of Tomorrow to discover agroecology

Today, there is still a great deal of research to be done on the link between agroecology and climate. But there is a strong consensus that agriculture must evolve to help preserve the environment.
Thisis the ambition of our latest serious game. Produced under the scientific supervision of INRAE, Roots of Tomorrow is a strategy game on agroecology. With Roots of Tomorrow, we are also responding to the need to raise awareness within organizations by using the game inworkshops and challenges.

It’s only by raising general awareness of the need to change agricultural practices that change can take place.

Sources :

• ¹ IPCC. Climate change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of the Third Working Group to the Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2022.
• ² French Ministry of Agriculture and Food. What is agroecology? 2013.