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GEOLINKS International Conference 2019, Book 2

ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS

GHG EMISSION REDUCTION IN THE AGRICULTURE OF LATVIA: THE REALITY AND OPPORTUNITIES

Peteris Rivza, Dina Popluga, Kaspars Naglis-Liepa, Arnis Lenerts, Dzidra Kreismane

ABSTRACT

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At present in Latvia, agriculture is the second-largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, accounting for 24.2% of the total amount of GHG emissions in the country. Besides, agricultural activity tends to increase in Latvia from year to year, which also contributes to the increase in agricultural GHG emissions. A number of GHG emission reduction measures are being implemented in the agriculture of Latvia for a long period, e.g. biogas production, the inclusion of legumes in crop rotation and fertilisation planning. To date, however, there is a lack of scientific substantiation that could determine the potential for GHG emission reduction measures, the efficiency of the measures as well as whether some extra measures are needed so that Latvia could meet its international obligations. The paper analyses 17 measures having GHG emission reduction potential by employing Marginal Abatement Cost Curves (MACC). The research resulted in constructing MACCs for five the most typical groups (clusters) of agricultural holdings. The analysis allows concluding that there are a number of GHG emission reduction measures that are cost efficient, as the implementation of the measures generates extra economic benefits for farmers (higher crop yields, less fertilisers used etc.), and costs and the potential for GHG emission reduction are considerably affected by the type (cluster) of agricultural holdings. The research findings give an opportunity for policymakers to design a more precise and effective climate policy for agriculture.

 

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KEYWORDS

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GHG emissions, MACC, reduction measures, agriculture, farm typology

REFERENCE
GEOLINKS International Conference, Conference Proceedings, ISSN 2603-5472, ISBN 978-619-7495-03-4, GHG EMISSION REDUCTION IN THE AGRICULTURE OF LATVIA: THE REALITY AND OPPORTUNITIES, 59-67 pp, DOI paper 10.32008/GEOLINKS2019/B2/V1/06
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