A recording of the second session of the Inventories and NDC (I&NDC) Network 2022 Webinar Series titled “National agriculture inventory data collection and management” is now available to view.
Policies for agriculture mitigation strategies are shaped by accurate national agriculture emissions estimates. However, estimates are only as good as the data that underpin them. National activity data collection and its management is a universal challenge for compilers from Annex I and non-Annex II countries alike.
The aim of this webinar was to increase awareness on overcoming a lack of good quality data, and on setting up data management frameworks to support increasing emissions reporting from Tier 1 to Tier 2 levels.
The session brought together expert speakers whose work focuses on improving agriculture inventory activity data related issues.
Speaker biographies can be found here.
The Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) has published the first of three calls for proposals for 2022 to support implementation of the 2030 Strategy. A total of $9 million of CCAC funding is available this year.
Funding for the first call aims at advancing national policy and planning to reduce short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) in 23 countries.
- Opening date: 8 June 2022
- Closing date: 30 June 2022
- Total Estimated cost: US$ 3,000,000
The next two calls will support SLCP mitigation in the main emitting sectors, both through national government and industry actions.
Learn more here.
Closing date: 28 June 2022
Location: Ghana / Benin
Sustainable land management is increasingly important to maintain the fragile balance between human demands and ecosystem services of available natural resources, to enhance food security, to reduce the risk of conflicts, and to foster adaptation to climate change. DecLaRe is a project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and aims to identify recommendation domains for scalable innovations towards sustainable crop production and animal husbandry in West Africa. Focussing on northern Benin and Ghana DecLaRe builds on available local and scientific knowledge and databases. It combines their use with problem-oriented research at the field level and modelling at the national to regional level. DecLaRe’s ultimate goal is to construct a decision support system (DSS) that can be used for land use and land management as well as for policy development.
In this context, the project will employ nine West African PhD candidates, who will be affiliated to one of the three West African DecLaRe partners: University for Development Studies (UDS, Ghana), University of Parakou (UP, Benin), and the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL, Burkina Faso).
Organisation/Funding Institution: German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), University for Development Studies (UDS, Ghana), University of Parakou (Benin), West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL, Burkina Faso), University of Kassel (Germany), University of Göttingen (Germany), University of Hohenheim (Germany), Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK, Germany)
Learn more:
A recording of the first session of the Inventories and NDC (I&NDC) Network 2022 Webinar Series titled “The policy relevance of national GHG inventories in guiding mitigation for agriculture” is now available to view.
This webinar brought together leading experts and industry stakeholders to discuss the relevance of national agriculture inventories in guiding policy decisions and questions including:
- Why are agriculture GHG inventories so crucial for policy decisions?
- How can industry organisations and the inventory work together?
- What is the relationship between climate finance, research, and national agriculture inventories?
Speaker biographies can be found here.
Closing date: 15 June 2022
Location: Balcarce Experimental Station (INTA), Argentina
The INTEGRITY project is offering a 1 year postdoc position.
We are looking for an enthusiastic postdoc to join our research group and work on measuring enteric methane emissions from cattle across different regions of Argentina. The candidate will be enrolled in an international project INTEGRITY, a European ERANET Circularity call funded by the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases. The project aims to evaluate the impact on C circularity and GHG emissions of integrated crop-ruminant livestock systems with different feeding strategies. The candidate is expected to have:
- PhD in animal science or similar
- Knowledge of GHG emissions sources, measurement techniques, and ruminant nutrition
- The ability for cattle and farm management
- Good English communication skills
- Team worker and self-organized
- Availability to travel across the country and work in different agro-climatic regions
- Open-mind and easy to live in a developing country
- Basic Spanish and driving license preferable
Main responsibilities will be:
- Carry out experimental trials to measure enteric methane with different techniques
- Data collection and analysis
- Writing reports and publications
- Involve in teamwork, assisting undergraduate and graduate students
Contract: we are offering a 1-year contract. If the candidate meets our expectations, we have funding secured to extend the contract up to 3 years. Salary is at international standards and equivalent to an Argentinean senior research position. The candidate will be based at Balcarce Experimental Station of the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA), Argentina.
How to apply: please, send your CV, covering letter expressing why you are interested, and at least one recommendation letter by June 15 2022 at the latest, and any questions regarding this position to [email protected] or [email protected]
Note: if you are a last year PhD student and you are interested to apply, please do not hesitate to do so. We will consider different situations.
Download the flyer here:
The Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA) is pleased to announce the new e-learning section of our website.
The first programme, developed by New Zealand and consisting of three foundation level courses, is now available. It covers the basics of:
- Climate change science;
- International reporting of greenhouse gas emissions; and
- The science behind agricultural greenhouse gases and how they are measured.
The courses are free and suitable for anyone wishing to upskill their knowledge in these areas. The courses were originally designed to support people working in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions reporting.
A certificate of completion is attainable upon completion of each course.
In the future we hope to include many more links to resources and courses that GRA Members and Partners have developed to support agricultural greenhouse gases related learning.
Please click HERE for more information and to register for the programme.
Opening Date: 27 May 2022
Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.
UPDATE: This position is now filled.
The GRA Flagship project on ‘Feed Additives to Reduce Enteric Methane’ is offering a 2-year postdoc position.
We seek to appoint a qualified and self-motivated post-doctoral fellow to work on the Flagship project entitled ‘Technical guidelines to develop feed additives to reduce enteric methane’. The work in the project is integrated with activities of the Feed & Nutrition Network chaired by David Yáñez-Ruiz (Spanish Research Council, CSIC, Spain) and co-chaired by André Bannink (Wageningen Research (part of Wageningen UR), WR, Netherlands) and Alex Hristov (Pennsylvania State University). The network is an activity of the Livestock Research Group within the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases.
The candidate will lead research related to the following specific objectives:
- Provide technical guidelines and protocols on good practices to test and develop feed additives of different natures. The technical guidelines will describe good practices to conduct trials in vitro and in vivo to target 3 main elements:
- Efficacy and delivery options across different livestock production systems, especially in relation to the dietary management (pasture, high/low forage, by-products…)
- Uncover the mode of action of the active molecules, and
- Adequate assessment of the persistency of the effects.
- Facilitate the registration process of feed additives and methods to account for the reduction in emissions achieved under farming conditions as well as in GHG inventories.
The project is coordinated by the CSIC and WR and the physical location of the position is negotiable. The position requires occasional travel for data collection and participation in collaborative and scientific meetings. Candidates must have a completed Ph.D. in Animal or Dairy Science and a strong publication-oriented record that demonstrates extensive experience with animal nutrition, rumen function, experimentation, and greenhouse gases research. A fluent level of English is required. The term of this appointment is 24 months. A competitive salary is offered.
The benefits of the contract include: i) participating in a globally active network of research groups and companies that are actively investigating and evaluating feed additives, ii) reaching out to regional and global organisations pursuing use / implementation of feed additives, iii) interacting with other GRA research networks (i.e. Rumen Microbial Genomics and Manure Management), and iv) improvement of research skills and areas within different disciplines such as rumen function, biochemistry, inventories methodology.
More information about the flagship project can be found HERE.
Opening Date: 27 May 2022. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Please apply by submitting a cover letter, curriculum vitae, and contact information for 3 references to David Yáñez-Ruiz ([email protected]) and André Bannink ([email protected]).
For additional information, please contact any of the coordinators.
GRA Flagship Projects develop new knowledge to better understand agricultural greenhouse gases, have global relevance and applicability and generate high scientific impact. The GRA works collaboratively, bringing together researchers from all over the world, to deliver these projects.
Six new global Flagship Projects were approved earlier this year at the 2022 GRA Council Meeting. These key priority projects have been identified as uniquely suited to the research expertise and global membership of the GRA.
Further information about the projects and how to get involved can be found HERE and via the links below.
Economics of cattle GHG mitigation (EMiFa)
Flagship Goal: To identify the most cost-effective options for farm level GHG mitigation strategies in different global production systems and provide evidence-based policy recommendations.
Ensuring long-term mitigation and adaptation co-benefits
Flagship Goal: To develop and apply new protocol-based methods for providing national decision-makers with evidence-based knowledge to ensure agricultural mitigation strategies have lasting impact.
Feed additives to reduce methane
Flagship Goal: To accelerate the development and use of feed additives to reduce global enteric methane emissions from livestock.
Mining rumen data to reduce methane
Flagship Goal: To generate new knowledge on the rumen microbiome which will enable novel interventions to reduce methane emissions from livestock
Reducing N2O emissions and improving accounting
Flagship Goal: To encourage global efforts to reduce GHG emissions from nitrogenous fertiliser by enabling its usage to be more accurately reflected in national level GHG accounting.
Satellite monitoring to improve livestock management
Flagship Goal: To develop globally applicable tools which improve management of grassland resources and support local initiatives to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Pre-Application Due: June 22, 2022 at 5:00pm ET
Learn more HERE.
About the 2022 Greener Cattle Request for Applications
The Greener Cattle Initiative anticipates awarding up to $4.67 million under this call for projects with applicants able to request up to that amount or a portion of the funds available.
Formed by the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, the Greener Cattle Initiative serves as a vehicle for multiple stakeholders to share knowledge and accelerate the development of scalable and commercially-feasible technologies that reduce enteric methane emissions and enable the production of sustainable beef and dairy.
This initial request for proposals seeks preliminary research that can serve as the basis for future breakthroughs and scalable solutions. The Greener Cattle Initiative welcomes research that mitigates enteric methane emissions in one or more of the following areas: nutrition and management strategies; genetic approaches and phenotyping strategies; rumen microbiome research; or sensing and data technology.
Projects should have the potential to transform the field of enteric methane research and agricultural sustainability. Additionally, research must be commercially viable, economically feasible and socially responsible without negatively impacting animal health and welfare, productivity, product quality and consumer and environmental safety.
Informational Webinar
Join FFAR virtually on May 24, 2022 at 1 p.m. ET for an informational webinar about this funding opportunity. Additional details including how to join are available on the webinar event webpage.
Location: Ryan Institute at NUI Galway, Ireland
Closing date: Friday 10 June 2022 at 5pm
Learn more here:
Abstract submission for the upcoming XXI International Nitrogen Workshop is now open (until 20 June 2022).
Submit an abstract HERE.
XXI International N Workshop
24th – 28th October 2022, Madrid
Agro-food systems are fuelled by nitrogen. About 80% of this valuable resource is lost to the environment before reaching our plates. We refer to this loss as nitrogen waste.
The ambitious goal of halving nitrogen waste by 2030 requires important coordination of many actors: multidisciplinary scientists, farmers, industry, policy-makers, NGOs, and consumers.
The XXI International N Workshop will contribute to this challenge by welcoming contributions dealing with different spatial scales (from the plot to global) and system scopes (crop, livestock, agroforestry, forestry, urban and agro-food systems). We will discuss these communications allocated in five regular- and three special sessions, together with eight interesting keynotes during five exciting days in October 2022 in Madrid, Spain.
A new international meta-analysis, initiated by the GRA Feed and Nutrition Network, has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
“Full adoption of the most effective strategies to mitigate methane emissions by ruminants can help meet the 1.5 °C target by 2030 but not 2050”
Significance: Agricultural methane emissions must be decreased by 11 to 30% of the 2010 level by 2030 and by 24 to 47% by 2050 to meet the 1.5 °C target. We identified three strategies to decrease product-based methane emissions while increasing animal productivity and five strategies to decrease absolute methane emissions without reducing animal productivity. Globally, 100% adoption of the most effective product-based and absolute methane emission mitigation strategy can meet the 1.5 °C target by 2030 but not 2050, because mitigation effects are offset by projected increases in methane. On a regional level, Europe but not Africa may be able to meet their contribution to the 1.5 °C target, highlighting the different challenges faced by high- and middle- and low-income countries.
Abstract: To meet the 1.5 °C target, methane (CH4) from ruminants must be reduced by 11 to 30% by 2030 and 24 to 47% by 2050 compared to 2010 levels. A meta-analysis identified strategies to decrease product-based (PB; CH4 per unit meat or milk) and absolute (ABS) enteric CH4 emissions while maintaining or increasing animal productivity (AP; weight gain or milk yield). Next, the potential of different adoption rates of one PB or one ABS strategy to contribute to the 1.5 °C target was estimated. The database included findings from 430 peer-reviewed studies, which reported 98 mitigation strategies that can be classified into three categories: animal and feed management, diet formulation, and rumen manipulation. A random-effects meta-analysis weighted by inverse variance was carried out. Three PB strategies—namely, increasing feeding level, decreasing grass maturity, and decreasing dietary forage-to-concentrate ratio—decreased CH4 per unit meat or milk by on average 12% and increased AP by a median of 17%. Five ABS strategies—namely CH4 inhibitors, tanniferous forages, electron sinks, oils and fats, and oilseeds—decreased daily methane by on average 21%. Globally, only 100% adoption of the most effective PB and ABS strategies can meet the 1.5 °C target by 2030 but not 2050, because mitigation effects are offset by projected increases in CH4 due to increasing milk and meat demand. Notably, by 2030 and 2050, low- and middle-income countries may not meet their contribution to the 1.5 °C target for this same reason, whereas high-income countries could meet their contributions due to only a minor projected increase in enteric CH4 emissions.
Read the full article HERE.
Read a press release about the article HERE