A cohort of agricultural organisations have joined forces to demand the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reform ‘inaccurate' greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) calculators.
The NFU and other groups, including the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), urged the panel in a joint statement to evaluate the more accurate global warming potential (GWP) metric of GWP*/GWP-we, to measure the contribution of short-lived greenhouse gases to global warming.
The call comes after the current accounting method used in farming and other sectors of the economy, known as GWP100, was criticised for accentuating the impact of methane ‘four-fold'.
Speaking at NFU Conference (February 25), Prof Myles Allen of Oxford University said: "The standard method multiplies methane emissions by 28 to give your Co2 equivalent emissions.
"This is a complete misnomer because it does not have an equivalent impact on global temperature."
In the statement, members of the coalition warned the use of inaccurate metrics could lead to ‘poor policy decisions', which did not account for the difference between biogenic methane and gases that persist in the atmosphere for long periods.
The CLA echoed these concerns, saying: "It is vitally important to ensure the best scientific information and tools available are being used to inform and build trust in the decisions that global and domestic policy makers are taking."
The groups added a delay on the implementation of ‘accurate measures' by the IPCC could not be afforded and highlighted ‘urgent action' was now needed to improve productivity, in order to conserve the carbon in pastures and grasslands.
They said: "Whatever the IPPC's decision on GHG metrics, farmers are committed to broad based action on climate change."
