The reduction of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions

A recent study at the ETH Zurich shows that the development of agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Switzerland will, also in the near future, mainly depend on the development of livestock populations. Current GHG reduction measures may only play a marginal role, given their relatively high cost. Furthermore, the results indicate that the target of reducing agricultural GHGs by 20% below the 1990 level could be achieved with a GHG charge of 50 CHF/t CO2eq only if at the same time the agricultural price level would be lowered. Yet, this would entail substantial income losses for the farmers.