Agroforestry: Enhancing the Prospects for Ameliorating Climate Change

Abstract

There is increasing recognition that achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement will require both extremely robust decarbonization policies and large-scale deployment of approaches that removal carbon from the atmosphere, usually referred to as carbon dioxide removal. One of the most widely discussed CDR options is tree-planting initiatives. However, tree-planting at this scale poses serious risks on a number of different axes, including biodiversity, social justice and threats to critical resources such as water. However, large-scale expansion of agroforestry systems may effectuate substantial atmospheric carbon dioxide removal, while avoiding many of the threats of large-scale afforestation and reforestation projects in other areas, as well as yielding substantial co-benefits for farmers, especially in developing countries. However, expansion of agroforestry operations faces a number of challenges that must be addressed through a combination of market incentives, training, and reforms in the legal landscape, including land tenure.