The climate deal achieved last week by Senate Democrats could lower the high levels of methane emissions from cows and increase programs that help carbon deposit in soil, fund climate-focused research, and reduce the number of greenhouse gases produced by American farms.
How the Climate Deal Will Benefit Farmers While Protecting the Environment
THIERRY ZOCCOLAN/Zoccolan/AFP via Getty Images
The law provides more than $20 billion to reduce the environmental impact of the agriculture industry, mostly through enhancing current U.S. programs run by the Department of Agriculture that assist farmers in adopting improved practices, as per ABC News
If the law is passed, farmers would be compensated for enhancing the health of their soil, coping with adverse weather, and defending their land.
According to fresh calculations, the roughly $370 billion climate and energy investment agreement would get the nation closer to lowering greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.
President Joe Biden committed to doing that, which many scientists believe is crucial.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, a longtime opponent of climate legislation, now backed policies that would support electric vehicles, renewable energy, and climate-friendly agriculture.
Agricultural emissions account for 11% of the nation's emissions that contribute to global warming.
According to Ben Thomas, who focuses on agriculture at the Environmental Defense Fund, the cash would extend initiatives favored by both environmental groups and the agricultural industry.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, agriculture is to blame for more than one-third of human-caused methane emissions, and cows belch massive amounts of methane.
When people eat a lot of meat or dairy, their diets can contribute to the buildup of greenhouse gases in this way.
The bill allocates cash to change the diet of cows to lessen such emissions.
On farms, if the soil is kept undisturbed and covered by a crop, it can hold or sequester carbon.
The bill's funding will be used to increase initiatives to assist farmers in turning their soil less frequently, implementing climate-friendly crop rotation techniques, and planting cover crops that don't yield anything but better soil.
Farmers currently receive assistance from federal officials with several ecologically conscious concerns, such as irrigation and fertilizer use.
For agricultural land, one program provides funding for conservation easements.
While it is obvious that properly managing soil can help to trap carbon, more research is still needed to address crucial issues like how long sequestered carbon remains in the soil.
Read More: How Climate Change Hurts Our Farmers
What is The Paris Agreement or The Climate Deal?
The Paris Agreement is a binding international agreement on climate change.
It was accepted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris on December 12, 2015, and it went into force on November 4, 2016, as per UNFCCC
Its goal is to keep pre-industrial levels of global warming far below 2 degrees Celsius, ideally below 1.5.
Countries want to reach the global greenhouse gas emissions peak as soon as feasible to build a climate-neutral world by the middle of the century in order to meet this long-term temperature objective.
The Paris Agreement is a turning point in the global climate change process because it is the first time that a legally enforceable agreement unites all countries in the fight against climate change and in an attempt to adapt to its effects.
The finest available science-based economic and social transformation is required to implement the Paris Agreement.
The Paris Agreement calls for countries to take progressively aggressive climate action over five years.
In order to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement, countries communicate the steps they will take in their NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions) to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Additionally, nations outline in their NDCs the steps they will take to strengthen their capacity for adaptation to the effects of global warming.
The Paris Agreement offers a framework for those nations who require it to receive financial, technical, and capacity-building support.
While for the first time also encouraging voluntary contributions from other Parties, the Paris Agreement stresses that affluent countries should take the lead in giving financial support to nations that are less endowed and more vulnerable.
Since considerable emissions reduction calls for large-scale investments, climate finance is necessary for mitigation.
Due to the considerable financial resources required to mitigate the negative consequences and adapt to a changing climate, climate finance is equally vital for adaptation.
