Assessment of agricultural policies to implement soil organic carbon (SOC) commitments in NDCs: Examples from Brazil and Rwanda
Countries with national agricultural policies providing quantified SOC-related mitigation actions and commitments can increase NDC transparency by referring to such policies and associated actions in their NDCs.
Brazil’s updated NDC set an absolute economy-wide mitigation target and for the 2020-2030 period, the ABC+ Plan sets out SOC-related mitigation actions and commitment targets to reduce agricultural GHG emissions for which an MRV mechanism is under development.
In Rwanda, quantified SOC-related mitigation actions and an MRV Framework were developed as part of the NDC update process, however, this SOC-related information is not fully reflected in Rwanda’s latest Strategic Plan for Agriculture Transformation, which was published two years prior to the updated NDC.
NDC development can be a driver for national SOC-related projects, actions, commitments, mitigation potentials and MRV mechanisms. For developing countries, this process can be enhanced through support programs for NDC development.
In countries where quantifying SOC-related agricultural actions is driven by NDC development, relevant agricultural policies need to be updated and aligned to support NDC implementation.
Citation
Wiese-Rozanova L, Rose S, Wollenberg E. 2021. Assessment of agricultural policies to implement soil organic carbon (SOC) commitments in NDCs: Examples from Brazil and Rwanda. CCAFS Info Note. CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).