Executive summary

Strengthening international collaboration to accelerate agricultural transitions 

Agriculture is a significant source of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and food systems contribute to nearly one-third of global emissions. The 2024 Breakthrough Agenda Report – Agriculture highlights the need for stronger international collaboration to transform the sector into a more climate-resilient, low-emissions system that meets other societal and environmental goals. This report emphasizes the importance of international collaborative actions to accelerate the deployment of these technologies, recognizing that agriculture’s contribution to emissions reduction is crucial to keeping the world within 1.5°C to 2°C by the end of the century as per the Paris Agreement goals. 

Livestock and fertilizer are two of the most significant contributors to agricultural emissions: hence the focus of this year’s report. However, the report acknowledges that the sector’s transformation into a resilient and low-emissions system, while catering to broader societal and environmental goals, will require systemic changes involving multiple approaches and interventions, including improvements in land management and water use, dietary shifts, and reductions in food loss and waste, as was documented in last year’s Agriculture chapter of the Breakthrough Agenda Report 2023 and the accompanying deep dive report into seven technological areas. 

The Agriculture Breakthrough principles 

The Breakthrough Agenda was launched at COP26 in 2021, and 17 countries have signed up for the Agriculture Breakthrough Agenda since then. In 2024, for the first time, the Agriculture Breakthrough Report is a standalone report led by CGIAR, while all other sector progress is covered in the IEA-led Breakthrough Report. The Agriculture Breakthrough Agenda aims to make sustainable, climate-resilient agriculture the most attractive and widely adopted option for farmers globally by 2030. Specifically, progress in the agricultural sector is measured against four guiding principles (called the agriculture breakthrough principles): 

1. Sustainable increases in agricultural productivity and incomes, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). 
2. Reduction in GHG emissions from the agrifood sector. 
3. Improved soil, water resources, and natural ecosystems. 
4. Improved adaptation and resilience to climate change, particularly for smallholder producers. 

These principles guide the evaluation of international collaboration and technological progress in the sector. This year’s report focuses on reducing emissions, and hence the focus on two subsectors (livestock and fertilizer), while stressing that emissions reductions must not compromise food and nutrition security, particularly for the most vulnerable populations in the LMICs.  

Agricultural emissions have remained stagnant in the past few years 

Global emissions from agrifood systems remained steady at around 16 gigatons of CO₂ equivalent between 2019 and 2021, indicating insufficient progress in reducing emissions. Livestock methane and fertilizer use are among the sector’s most significant contributors to GHGs. Making immediate and substantial reductions in these areas is crucial if the agricultural sector is to meet the global climate targets outlined in the Paris Agreement in 2015. 

Increasing momentum in international collaboration signals the need for urgent action  

Since the launch of the Breakthrough Agenda at COP26 in 2021, international cooperation in agriculture has gained momentum, recognizing the sector’s critical role in climate mitigation, adaptation, food security, and environmental sustainability. The Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan, endorsed at COP27 in 2022, was pivotal in highlighting the interconnectedness of water, food security, and the environment in climate action. Multiple initiatives have since been launched, including the COP28 UAE Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, the Call to Action for Transforming Food Systems for People, Nature and Climate (Food Systems Call to Action), and several other technical cooperation programs on agriculture, showing that countries and actors across the agrifood value chain increasingly recognize the importance of incorporating food systems into climate action. These initiatives aim to enhance knowledge sharing, build resilience, and increase financial support for sustainable agriculture. Meanwhile, climate finance for the agrifood sector continues to be low, receiving just 4.3% of total global climate finance, and is even on a downward trajectory. Additionally, innovation in research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) remains underfunded. Gaps in developing common metrics and indicators, particularly in measuring resilience, further hamper coordinated global efforts, highlighting the need for more robust international collaboration and accountability to accelerate meaningful progress. 

Summary of progress on international collaboration 

Technologies and approaches for reducing emissions from livestock and fertilizers 

This report focuses on four technologies within two major subsectors of agriculture: reducing enteric methane emissions from livestock and reducing emissions from fertilizer. These technologies are methane inhibitors and low-methane forages for livestock and green ammonia and site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) for fertilizer use. Methane inhibitors, such as 3-NOP (Bovaer®), have shown the ability to reduce methane emissions by up to 30 percent. At the same time, low-methane forages offer a complementary approach by modifying livestock feed to naturally lower emissions. Meanwhile, green ammonia, produced using renewable energy, provides a pathway to decarbonizing fertilizer production, which currently relies heavily on fossil fuels. SSNM optimizes fertilizer application to match the specific nutrient needs of crops, reducing waste and minimizing nitrous oxide emissions. However, there are several barriers to adopting these technologies and approaches. These include high costs and limited  access to these technologies, particularly in the LMICs; regulatory challenges, such as inconsistent regulatory frameworks across countries that create obstacles to scaling these technologies; lack of knowledge and technical support for adoption and scaling of new technologies; and lack of market demand and consumer awareness, such as limited demand for low-emission agricultural products.  

Priority actions to strengthen international collaboration 

The report outlines five priority actions for international collaboration, to overcome existing barriers and drive progress, as shown in the table below: 

The transition to sustainable, climate-resilient agriculture is both urgent and achievable. The technologies discussed in this report offer promising solutions but are only part of the broader transformation required. International collaboration will be critical to ensuring these technologies are deployed at scale and that agriculture contributes its fair share to meeting global climate targets. The 2024 Breakthrough Agenda Report – Agriculture provides a roadmap for urgent action.