Decarbonising agriculture likely to push up food prices

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-03-18 05:00

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Swiss researchers say using Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) to offset the emissions caused by agriculture is likely to increase food costs. They say failing to mitigate agricultural methane and nitrous oxide emissions could lead to an increase in global temperatures above the 1.5 - 2˚C target, by about 0.4˚C, and that CDR is likely to play a role. But they estimate that beef costs would climb by 41 per cent, milk by 40 per cent, and rice by 14 per cent in the USA as a result. And the cost increases for beef and rice could be significantly higher taking the whole world into account, potentially threatening food security and welfare, they say.