Costs and Policy Implications of Greenhouse Gas Reduction in Swiss Agriculture

摘要

Although Swiss agriculture is not legally committed to any greenhouse gas emissions reduction, it has already decreased its emissions by about 10% and is expected to further reducing them by 3 to 10% until 2010. Thus, Swiss agriculture will contribute17 to 28% to the national Kyoto target. The economic value of this reduction is estimated in the range of 30 to 107 Mio CHF/year. This is an optional value, which will only be realized in the commitment period 2008 – 2012, and which reflects the savings in abatement costs for the rest of the economy. This will primarily be achieved by continuing the current agricultural policy, whereas model-based calculations show that targeted incentives and soil carbon sequestration may only marginally contribute within the same time frame.