PIMA-AFOLU: Policy Inventory for Mitigation Actions in Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use Sectors

The PIMA-AFOLU database covers over 1300 policies including policies with mitigation goals (direct mitigation policies), and policies which have goals that indirectly support mitigation (indirect mitigation policies) in 44 countries. The map shows the number of AFOLU mitigation policies per country. The OECD anticipates increasing the scope of the database to cover more countries in the future.

The inventory includes over 1300 measures of which around 80% are individual policies while the remaining 20% are broader policies that set overarching objectives or include policy packages. Aproximately two-thirds of policies in PIMA-AFOLU are economic instruments – these are designed to change behaviour by providing economic incentives or by adjusting relative prices.

Most economic instruments are subsidies, such as producer payments or payments for ecosystem services. These subsidies can influence production decisions and potentially affect GHG emissions. Increasingly, subsidies are being used to support forests and tree planting efforts.

The policy inventory categorises policies across four major sectors: i) agriculture, ii) forestry, iii) AFOLU (Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use), and iv) non-AFOLU. About two-thirds of these policies are focused on the agricultural sector. Some policies, such as waste management regulations, target non-AFOLU sectors but still influence mitigation actions in farming and forestry.

Categorising policies by their environmental goals helps in tracking national and global efforts. For example, about 175 policies address soil quality through actions, such as farm-level practices like planting cover crops to prevent soil erosion and regulations on fertiliser application.

The database identifies various ways that policies can help mitigate emissions and specifies the types of GHG emissions they target, including biogenic and non-point source emissions N₂O, CH₄, and CO₂. For example, N₂O emissions can be reduced through policies that regulate the amount, storage, or use of fertilisers, targeting emissions from both soils and manure. Similarly, CH₄ emissions can be reduced through policies related to manure management, livestock feed adjustment, and heard size regulations; in fact, over 200 policies specifically target CH₄ reduction.

AFOLU policies commonly focus on emissions reduction through improved land management, land conservation and ecosystems, and carbon sequestration. Policies aimed at land management and conservation can impact multiple greenhouse gases (GHGs) simultaneously by influencing various biochemical processes. Policies may also support reduced emissions through carbon sequestration; examples include subsidies for afforestation and regulations for conservation of land wetlands and pastures. 

AFOLU policies support climate change mitigation through a range of policy targets. The policy inventory organises these targets into five major categories: area in hectares covered by AFOLU measures, emission reduction objectives, livestock units impacted by measures, number of trees planted, and number of projects or beneficiaries affected. Gauging progress towards these targets can help assess the policy’s effectiveness.

Policy targets based on the amount of land affected (area-based targets), allow for comparison and measurement of policy ambition. Area-based targets are commonly used in mitigation actions related to carbon storage, reforestation, afforestation, land protection, and land restoration.