APPROACHES TO ASSESSING THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF AGRICULTURE IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AND THE EUROPEAN UNION

DOI 10.33305/223-19

Issue № 3, 2022, article № 2, pages 19-28

Section: Agrarian policy: problems and decisions

Language: Russian

Original language title: ПОДХОДЫ К ОЦЕНКЕ УГЛЕРОДНОГО СЛЕДА СЕЛЬСКОГО ХОЗЯЙСТВА В РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ И ЕВРОСОЮЗА

Keywords: ORGANIC AGRICULTURE, GREEN TECHNOLOGIES, CROSS-BORDER CARBON REGULATION, SEQUESTRATION OF CARBON DIOXIDE, EMISSIONS OF GREENHOUSE GASES, CARBON TRACE, CARBON AGRICULTURE, STEADY AGRICULTURE

Abstract: Research on sustainable agriculture needs an up-to-date and objective statistical base on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from agricultural production. The article outlines various approaches to estimating the carbon footprint of agriculture: from a narrower sectoral approach to a broad intersectoral approach connected by a complete value chain. The purpose of the article is to summarize approaches to estimating the carbon footprint of agriculture, as well as to compare the carbon footprint of the countries of the European Union and Russia according to indirect estimates of the used production resources. Based on statistical data on the amount of fertilizers introduced into arable land and the number of tractors used per hectare of arable land and other indirect parameters, the author concludes that the carbon footprint of domestic agriculture is relatively small compared to European countries. The analysis concludes that the current technologies of intensive agricultural production in our country lag behind the technologies of European production, and therefore greenhouse gas emissions from Russia's agriculture are less per hectare of arable land. However, that did not mean that domestic agriculture had strategic competitive advantages. The intensive development of the industry, which allows a rapid increase in production volumes, as one of the negative environmental effects will have a carbon footprint. Therefore, one of the most important tasks of the strategic development of agriculture in Russia is the introduction of green technologies throughout the value chain and finding a balance between industrial and environmentally friendly production.

Authors: Nesterenko Natalia IUrevna