The Impacts of Climate Protection on Agricultural Productivity and Food Security

The European Union's goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050 is crucial for transitioning to a low-carbon economy.

However, ambitious reductions in greenhouse gas emissions may lead to unintended consequences, notably from current EU policies.

On one hand, increasing food production for Zero Hunger (SDG 2) can escalate greenhouse gas emissions, responsible for about 34% of total anthropogenic emissions. Predictably, direct carbon emissions from agriculture will rise in the coming decade.

Yet, mitigating these emissions, especially in the short term, may reduce production and raise food prices, potentially limiting access, especially in food-insecure regions. This could lead to increased poverty and stunting.

Balancing emissions reduction with agricultural productivity and global food security is a critical challenge.To avoid unintended negative consequences and optimize climate protection policy benefits, interactions between different objectives must be considered in policy formulation.

The CliAgroSec project aims to create a framework exploring synergies between agricultural productivity, food security, and climate protection objectives, while acknowledging trade-offs in multi-objective policy development.

This involves crafting comprehensive ""sustainable policies"" encompassing environmental, economic, and social dimensions.The project has three specific objectives:Elaborate on potential synergies and trade-offs between climate protection policies, agricultural productivity, and food security.

Propose a theoretical framework to identify negative externalities of climate protection policies within global climate agreements.Develop a comprehensive integrated empirical model, combining a global Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model with an agri-environmental model.

Assess the effectiveness of climate protection policies across countries and scales, capturing the intricate dynamics of agricultural systems and their environmental implications.