Lynch, JohnCain, MichelleFrame, DavidPierrehumbert, Raymond2021-03-022021-03-022021-02-03Lynch J, Cain M, Frame D, Pierrehumbert R. (2021) Agriculture's contribution to climate change and role in mitigation is distinct from predominantly fossil CO2-emitting sectors. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, Volume 4, February 2021, Article number 5180392571-581Xhttps://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2020.518039http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/16423Agriculture is a significant contributor to anthropogenic global warming, and reducing agricultural emissions—largely methane and nitrous oxide—could play a significant role in climate change mitigation. However, there are important differences between carbon dioxide (CO2), which is a stock pollutant, and methane (CH4), which is predominantly a flow pollutant. These dynamics mean that conventional reporting of aggregated CO2-equivalent emission rates is highly ambiguous and does not straightforwardly reflect historical or anticipated contributions to global temperature change. As a result, the roles and responsibilities of different sectors emitting different gases are similarly obscured by the common means of communicating emission reduction scenarios using CO2-equivalence. We argue for a shift in how we report agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and think about their mitigation to better reflect the distinct roles of different greenhouse gases. Policy-makers, stakeholders, and society at large should also be reminded that the role of agriculture in climate mitigation is a much broader topic than climate science alone can inform, including considerations of economic and technical feasibility, preferences for food supply and land-use, and notions of fairness and justice. A more nuanced perspective on the impacts of different emissions could aid these conversationsenAttribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/nitrous oxidemethaneCO2climate policyclimate changeagricultureArticle