Producer and consumer responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural production-a perspective from the Brazilian Amazon

Greenhouse gases from the combination of land use change and agriculture are responsible for the largest share of global emissions, but are inadequately considered in the current set of international climate policies. Under the Kyoto protocol, emissions generated in the production of agricultural commodities are the responsibility of the producing country, introducing potential inequities if agricultural products are exported. This study quantifies the greenhouse gas emissions from the production of soybeans and beef in the Amazon basin of Brazil, a region where rates of both deforestation and agricultural exports are high. Integrating methods from land use science and life-cycle analysis, and accounting for producer-consumer responsibility, we allocate emissions between Brazil and importing countries with an emphasis on ultimately reducing the greenhouse gas impact of food production. The mechanisms used to distribute the carbon emissions over time allocate the bulk of emissions to the years directly after the land use change occurred, and gradually decrease the carbon allocation to the agricultural products. The carbon liability embodied in soybeans exported from the Amazon between 1990 and 2006 was 128 TgCO(2)e, while 120 TgCO(2)e were embodied in exported beef. An equivalent carbon liability was assigned to Brazil for that time period.