Agriculture

Carbon Efficiency

Farmers play an important role in helping to achieve a significant lowering of CO2e emissions in production and have the capability to sequester carbon into their soils – two important levers in a world that is striving to achieve net zero targets. 

 

Agriculture is responsible for about 
 17% of global greenhouse gas emissions (Source: FAO)

With agriculture being responsible for about 17% of global greenhouse gases (Source: FAO), carbon-efficient agricultural practices can significantly contribute to combating climate change. BASF Agricultural Solutions works to support growers on their journey towards increased carbon efficiency and thereby accomplish its commitment to reduce the carbon footprint per ton of crop produced by 30% by 2030 in strategic crops. 

Climate change mitigation calls for joint efforts: partnerships constitute the cornerstone of our work towards carbon neutrality in the agricultural value chain. 

European Carbon+ Farming Coalition (EIT FOOD

BASF has co-founded the European Carbon+ Farming Coalition to drive this important topic which is fully in line with our global commitments to boost sustainable agriculture. The coalition is a farmer-centric initiative conceived to accelerate the farm-level transition towards sustainable agriculture and thus the European Union’s progress toward the carbon neutrality goals of the Green Deal. 

Global Carbon Farming Program (trade news) 

BASF has also launched a program that allows farmers to track and profit from sustainable practices. This includes reducing carbon emissions, underlining our efforts to contribute to fighting climate change. The Global Carbon Farming Program promotes sustainable agricultural practices and fosters the best use of BASF’s holistic portfolio, from seeds, traits, and innovative chemical and biological crop protection products to digital farming and fertilizer management solutions. This will enable farmers to reduce on-farm emissions and sequester more carbon into the soil. In addition, BASF will build the global framework to generate carbon credits from internationally recognized certifiers that will lead to additional revenue streams for farmers from their carbon reduction efforts. 

We adopt a systems approach, offering an ecosystem of solutions and practices to realize CO2e savings by either improving farm efficiencies (e.g., productivity on existing land) or enabling carbon sequestration. 

 

Our innovation is the fundamental enabler of Climate Smart Agriculture

We avail of a broad portfolio of solutions that can feature in our best offers to tackle major drivers of on-farm emissions and will introduce more in time. For instance, BASF continually develops innovation to increase yields with the same amounts of inputs: novel chemistry protects the crop against pests and diseases throughout its growth and ripening, and new biological solutions may reduce tractor passes thereby saving fossil fuel emissions. Our herbicide technology can facilitate no-till practices, whereby less carbon is released in the atmosphere, and more is sequestered in the soil. In addition, we offer plant nutrition solutions that also limit fertilizer GHG emissions. Our digital solutions allow for more precise applications of inputs to areas of production where they are most needed; this does not only protect the environment, it also saves inputs and fuel. In addition, our digital tools can track and account for the CO2e savings and interface with the appropriate certification platforms such that the farmer can be rewarded for their climate smart farming activities. Ultimately, we bring to bear over 100 years of agronomic expertise to fully support the farmer on their transition to Climate Smart farming. 

Take a look at further examples of our work on Carbon Efficiency

Learn more about our other sustainability commitments

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