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    The Carbon Farming Solution - Foreword

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    Chelsea Green Publishing
    Agriculture is rightly blamed as a major culprit of our climate crisis. But in this groundbreaking new book, Eric Toensmeier argues that agriculture—specifically, the subset of practices known as “carbon farming”—can, and should be, a linchpin of a global climate solutions platform.

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    The Carbon Farming Solution - Foreword

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    Chelsea Green Publishing
    515 views2 pages
    Agriculture is rightly blamed as a major culprit of our climate crisis. But in this groundbreaking new book, Eric Toensmeier argues that agriculture—specifically, the subset of practices known as “carbon farming”—can, and should be, a linchpin of a global climate solutions platform.

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    Agriculture is rightly blamed as a major culprit of our climate crisis. But in this groundbreaking new book, Eric Toensmeier argues that agriculture—specifically, the subset of practices known as “carbon farming”—can, and should be, a linchpin of a global climate solutions platform.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    515 views2 pages

    The Carbon Farming Solution - Foreword

    Uploaded by

    Chelsea Green Publishing
    Agriculture is rightly blamed as a major culprit of our climate crisis. But in this groundbreaking new book, Eric Toensmeier argues that agriculture—specifically, the subset of practices known as “carbon farming”—can, and should be, a linchpin of a global climate solutions platform.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    Foreword

    estoring carbon into the soil, where it belongs,


    and out of the atmosphere, where it is causing
    havoc, is one of the few win-win solutions to
    global (as well as local) problems and is the underlying
    theme of this book.
    The timing of the publication of this book could not
    have been better planned. It arrives at a crucial point in
    time, just after the Paris Climate Summit, or COP21, held
    early in December, 2015. The summit was well prepared
    with a number of pre meetings. Of particular interest to
    the readers of this book is the 4 pour 1000 initiative
    launched by the French government, in an effort to both
    reduce emissions from agriculture as well as to start the
    sequestration of surplus atmospheric carbon, originating both from agriculture and other industrial activities.
    The pressure from civil society on the Paris negotiators
    was loud and clear, articulating the need to deliver this
    time around, given the accelerated melting of the ice
    cap and CO2 atmospheric concentrations increasing to
    dangerous and nonreversible levels.
    Some of the very valuable and vast information
    that the books author has collected, analyzed, and
    presented, in a format that is easy to read, understand,
    and set into practice, has been put forward in many
    side events and panel discussions in Paris and served as
    a basis for much of the progress made in pushing the
    agriculture and food system agenda in the climate discussions. Clearly, attention is now being paid to some
    workable alternative solutions to the usual energy transition ones in the discussion on how to deal with climate
    change. Is it enough? No, not yet, but with this book
    being available to both practitioner and policy constituencies, the excuse of lack of evidence to get started has
    been removed from the negotiation table. That there
    is need for more research, analysis, and discussion on
    the agriculture and food system transformation to live

    up to the needed results on climate change mitigation


    and actual reversal, while caring for the food nutrition,
    feed, and fiber needs of a growing population remains
    unchallenged. But here a strong scientific and field
    experience is documented, to build upon and stop the
    damage, while further solutions are being investigated.
    The fact that we are navigating a very narrow range
    before reaching irreversible tipping points should tell
    us that the time to act on what we know is now. The
    safest option would be to restrict our atmospheric CO2
    to 350 ppm and end up with a 0- to .5-degree Celsius
    temperature change, which is without doubt a challenge. But as indicated in this book, this is an achievable
    goal if we get started now by implementing what is
    known already while we look for more and better
    options to sequester carbon under ground and also in
    biomass. Additional efforts in energy conservation and
    transitions to more sustainable energy sources will also
    be needed, but the evidence presented of a multifaceted
    and multifunctional agriculture linked to a less wasteful
    food system is already very convincing and worthy of
    inclusion in any policy discussion on the transformation
    of our food-production-to-consumption systems, as a
    major contribution to climate change mitigation and
    better, reversal.
    The organization of this book will please all readers
    with a short but much needed introduction and introductory chapters on the basics of climate change and
    agricultural production systems, followed by practical
    examples, e.g., the evidence, and closing with an
    implementation roadmap. The described agricultural
    system examples are universal; one can draw the basic
    principles and adapt them to any part of the world. The
    examples need to be seen as points of departure for
    the transformation, for the learning process that must
    accompany any implementation, given that agriculture

    xii

    is extremely location specific in its details, while remaining quite general on a larger scale. One can also draw the
    conclusion that the food systems in their wider sense
    will need to be more localized and respond to the agricultural and local cultural needs. Agroecology is what
    would come to mind as a description of what is expected
    as an end result of the transformation exercise. Carbon
    farming and regenerative/organic agriculture are variations on the same theme of sustainable agriculture and,
    more often now, the entire food system because clearly
    we cant separate one from the other. In fact, the main
    driver for a transformation toward carbon farming will
    come from the demand side, both for a climate change
    reversal and for quality and nutritious food.
    Key to the transformation process is an enabling
    policy environment, addressing and including all actors
    in the system. The call is for a long-term, holistic, and
    systemic approach to planning as well as an adaptive
    implementation model where new knowledge, science,
    technology, and experience are activating a positive
    implementation spiral. The final section of the book
    admirably addresses these needed policy measures.

    The future of agriculture and food systems is certainly


    not a world of corn, soybeans, and oil palms. As Eric
    Toensmeiers eloquent and extremely well-documented
    book demonstrates, the future lies in more diversity at
    all organizational levels in the three sustainable development dimensions (environment, society, and the
    economy). Smart use of nudging mechanisms, such as
    reassigned subsidies, ecosystem service payments (carbon sequestration being one of them), and true pricing,
    will help the transformation process, as well as a rethink
    of how we manage our agriculture and food systems
    now and how they should be redesigned to fulfill the
    ambitions set in the Sustainable Development Goals to
    which all governments have subscribed. Knowing that
    today we produce at global levels enough food for some
    14 billion people, our primary concern needs to be how
    will a world of 9.5 billion people sustainably and for the
    long haul nourish itself. Again, Eric Toensmeiers brilliant book supports the case that this is well within the
    realm of the possible, if not the neededto both nourish
    the world and reverse climate change.
    Dr. Hans Herren

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