For a low-carbon, resilient & prosperous agriculture

The French agricultural sector stands at a crossroads in the face of environmental, energy, and climate challenges. Representing 18% of national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, agriculture must undergo a profound transformation to contribute to decarbonization objectives (-46% by 2050 compared to 2015, according to “Stratégie Nationale Bas Carbone” (SNBC2), French low-carbon strategy), while also ensuring biodiversity preservation.

Inherently highly vulnerable to climate change, the agricultural sector is also heavily dependent on fossil resources and on imports for crop fertilisation and animal feed. This transition therefore aims to enhance resilience and national agricultural sovereignty, safeguarding the sector’s ability to feed the population while ensuring the economic viability of farms.

Finally, the agricultural sector has a unique potential to preserve biodiversity and sequester carbon, a significant asset that must be leveraged.

Conducted over 18 months, this project aims to outline perspectives that will enable the agricultural sector to face these challenges by 2050. It comprehensively addresses the sector’s issues, reflecting the current state of research and debates.

To achieve this, the team relied throughout the process on a scientific advisory board and a panel of farmers, ensuring that the perspectives of all agricultural stakeholders were considered. More than 150 organisations took part in the consultation process (trade associations, technical institutes, associations, etc.), alongside numerous farmers and other professionals. In total, nearly 300 people contributed to this work, either professionally or personally.

At this stage, the project has focused on the agricultural sector, but it will be expanded in the coming months to include the broader food system.

• Clémence Vorreux, Project coordinator  clemence.vorreux@theshiftproject.org