Syngenta seeks to restore degraded land in China, Brazil, US - South China Morning Post
Climate change: Syngenta seeks to restore millions of hectares of degraded land in China, Brazil, and US over 3 years | South China Morning Post
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Climate change: Syngenta seeks to restore millions of hectares of degraded land in China, Brazil, and US over 3 years
- Sustainable changes in farm practices could sequester nearly 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide globally a year, Swiss company says
- In China, company says it has trained more than 17,000 farmers on regenerative agricultural practices, leading to a 4 per cent increase in yield
Swiss agriculture technology giant Syngenta Group and US-based environmental organisation The Nature Conservancy (TNC) aim to restore millions of hectares of degraded land in China, Brazil and the United States in the next three years in an effort to transform the agriculture sector in the fight against climate change.
The two entities, which have been collaborating since 2009 and entered into a global partnership in 2018, announced a three-year renewal of their collaboration on Thursday.
They will focus on advancing business practices with the goals of scaling up regenerative agriculture, improving resource efficiency to minimise the impact of agriculture on climate, improving soil health and promoting habitat protection in major agricultural regions worldwide.
“We want to further leverage our efforts towards a climate solution-oriented agriculture fuelled by innovation and partnerships that regenerate soil and protect nature,” Petra Laux, chief sustainability officer of Syngenta Group, said in a statement on Thursday. “Agriculture must not only feed a growing global population over the coming decades, but it also needs to fight climate change and safeguard natural resources.”
Regenerative agriculture refers to farming and grazing practices that seek to reverse climate change by nurturing and restoring soil health, protecting water resources and safeguarding biodiversity – while also enhancing farms’ productivity and profitability.
Globally, agriculture and forestry together contribute around 17 per cent of humanity’s greenhouse-gas emissions – the largest source of emissions after electricity and heat, according to the World Resources Institute.
According to Syngenta, regenerative agriculture practices, such as turning farms into carbon sinks, reversing desertification and preventing land conversion, could draw more than 10 per cent of all human-driven carbon emissions into the soil over the next 25 years if applied at scale. Changes in farm practices could sequester nearly 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide globally a year, it said.
In China, Syngenta and TNC will promote sustainable farming practices through their Run Tian project, which launched in 2020. This aims to help farmers modernise in a sustainable way by improving soil health while also boosting crop quality, yield and farm profitability through farmer service centres across the country.
The Run Tian project has already regenerated 2,400 hectares of agricultural soils in the North China Plain, the largest wheat-producing area in China. It has also trained more than 17,000 farmers on regenerative agricultural practices, leading to a 4 per cent increase in yield, according to Syngenta.
In Brazil, Syngenta is aiming to recover 1 million hectares of degraded land and make restoration a profitable option for farmers rather than clearing native vegetation.
In the US, Syngenta and TNC will launch two new projects. The first will enhance cropland’s climate resilience and reduce farming pressure on water resources through diverse crop rotations with regenerative sorghum production. The second will scale regenerative agriculture practices with US seed producers, according to Syngenta.
TNC, which operates in more than 70 nations, has been collaborating with Chinese academics and authorities to foster nature-based climate-mitigation projects.
withdrew its application to list in Shanghai this March after
getting approval from the Shanghai Stock Exchange last year. The company previously planned to raise 65 billion yuan (US$9 billion) in its IPO, which could have been one of the largest share sales this year in the country’s commercial hub.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”