Agroforestry: Enhancing the Prospects for Ameliorating Climate Change

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 (CDR). One of the most widely discussed CDR options is tree-planting initiatives, such as the One Trillion Trees Initiative. 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. This article argues that substantial expansion of agroforestry systems, involving the introduction or mixture of trees or other woody perennials with agricultural crops, pastures and/or livestock, may effectuate substantial amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide, 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 the legal landscape in terms of land tenure.