These free online courses cover topics in the areas of food and nutrition security, social and economic development and sustainable management of natural resources. All courses are designed for self-paced learning and can be downloaded. Resources and reading material links are available. Relevant courses include:
There are some courses that offer multiple languages and also some software restrictions.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
2019
Describes methods established by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for GHG estimation from farms and forests. Recommends a single method for quantifying GHG emissions/sequestration for each particular source category (e.g., CH4 from rice cultivation) determined from the activity data, published emission factors, and accounting methods and tools typically available for the farm/forest scale in the U.S.
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
The tool allows users to compare national GHG inventory data for the AFOLU sector reported to the UNFCCC with data from the FAOSTAT Emissions database. The tool can help countries improve their capacity to report the AFOLU sector in their National GHG Inventory.
FAO, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Rome, Italy
This Quick Guidance on Greenhouse Gas Accounting for Sustainable Land Management (SLM) provides an overview of SLM activities subject to greenhouse gas appraisal, guidance in the selection of tools, data needs for the application and final use of the greenhouse gas accounting tools. It complements the more comprehensive Carbon Accounting Tools for Sustainable Land Management report, and it is targeted at leading resource managers and project developers to proficiency in the independent use of greenhouse gas accounting tools.*
Anass Toudert, Ademola Braimoh, Martial Bernoux, Maylina St-Louis, Manar Abdelmagied, Louis Bockel, Adriana Ignaciuk, and Yuxuan Zhao
2019
World Bank
*Excerpt from the abstract
Agroforestry is the integration of trees with crops and livestock and provides services relevant to the UNFCCC’s Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture. This article gives an overview of how agroforestry is handled in national MRV systems under the UNFCCC. They found that there is a significant gap between national ambition and national ability to measure and report on agroforestry initiatives and established programs. Institutional, technical and financial challenges prevent comprehensive and transparent inclusion of agroforestry in MRV systems of many non-Annex I countries. If trees in agroforestry practices are not counted in inventories or climate change programs, a major carbon sink is not being accounted for. Only if agroforestry resources are included in MRV reports will these countries gain access to finance and the support they need. The authors discuss four recommendations to close the gap between ability and ambition.
Rosenstock TS, Wilkes A, Jallo C, Namoi N, Bulusu M, Suber M, Mboi D, Mulia R, Simelton E, Richards M, Gurwick N, and Wollenberg E
2019
Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment
The UNFCCC website houses the annual inventory submissions and includes national inventory reports (NIR) and common reporting format (CRF) of Parties included in Annex I to the Convention. The NIRs give detailed descriptions and numerical information, while the CRF tables contain all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals, and implied emission factors and activity data. Supplementary information submitted in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol by Parties included in Annex I are included in the submissions of the NIR and CRF.
UNFCCC
2003-present
The American Carbon Registry’s Methodology for Quantifying Nitrous Oxide (N2O) Emissions Reductions from Reduced Use of Nitrogen Fertilizer on Agricultural Crops outlines requirements for quantifying GHG emission reductions by reducing the amount of nitrogen used to fertilize crops. The methodology was jointly developed by Michigan State University (MSU) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). This methodology is applicable to the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector, and is specific to Agricultural Land Management (ALM) project activities. The scope of this methodology is limited to on-farm reductions in N fertilizer rate associated with the management of fertilizers that reduce net N2O emissions from cropping systems.
Millar, N, G.P. Robertson, A. Diamant, R.J. Gehl, P.R. Grace, and J.P. Hoben
2012
Little Rock, Arkansas: American Carbon Registry & Winrock International
The Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative, CFI) Act 2011 allows farmers and landholders to earn carbon credits by sequestering soil carbon (C) in pasture, crops or mixed farming system soils. GHG abatement is achieved either by reducing or avoiding emissions or by removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in soil or vegetation. This method introduces management practices to increase C soil storage and account for the amount of C stored. Project management activities included in this methodology include:
- sustainable intensification that required management actions (nutrient management, new irrigation, managing soil acidity or pasture renovation);
- stubble retention, crop residue previously removed is retained in the field; and
- conversion of cropland to pasture (land continuously used for cropping is permanently converted to pasture).
The benefits of increasing soil carbon might include higher crop yields, better pasture, reduced erosion, and improved soil health.
Australia: Department of the Environment and Energy
2015
This method provides landholders and businesses the opportunity to earn Australian Carbon Credits (ACC) by changing their land management practices to increase soil organic carbon. It includes instructions for undertaking projects and estimating the resulting ACC abatement. It also allows for some flexibility of land management practices so that it can be customized to the specific region and farm. The benefits from increasing soil carbon in pasture, croplands, horticultural or mixed farming system soils might increase crop yields, increase pasture quality, reduced soil erosion and improved soil health.
Australia: Department of the Environment and Energy
2018
Vietnam’s 2010 GHG inventory mapped national land-use classifications onto IPCC reporting categories. Within ‘forest remaining forest,’ various types of forest are reported, including mixed wood and bamboo forests and plantation forests that might fall within the broader definition of agroforestry. Perennial crops on agricultural land are categorized in the GHG inventory as a form of cropland. The inventory presents a land-use change matrix showing that in 2005, there was 59,260 ha of perennial cropland, which increased to 186,302 ha in 2010, mainly due to conversion of forest land and annual cropland to perennial cropland. This was determined on the basis of land-use statistics from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, which are reported annually.
To estimate the related carbon stock changes, it was assumed—presumably on the basis of expert knowledge of local perennial systems—that perennial cropland planted in the last eight years had an increasing carbon stock, while perennial cropland more than nine years in age had reached a steady state. Since the area of perennial crop increased continuously from 2002 to 2010, the newly planted perennial crop area is estimated simply from the increased area of perennial cropland within the last eight years, which in 2010 was 611,300 ha. The carbon stock change factors used were based on default biomass growth rates in IPCC (2003). The remaining perennial crop area was assumed to be at a steady state, and no biomass increment was attributed to these lands.
Source: Rosenstock et al. 2018
