Policies applied in the agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sectors have the potential to substantially reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including CO2 and the more potent CH4 and N2O, as well as to sequester carbon.
Governments have used a broad set of policies to mitigate GHG emissions in AFOLU. The PIMA-AFOLU database identified about 1 500 policies directly or indirectly supporting climate change mitigation in the AFOLU sectors of the 53 countries it covers.
Approximately two-thirds of these policy instruments are economic instruments, almost all of which are subsidies.
AFOLU mitigation policies can support diverse policy goals and may provide co-benefits such as climate change mitigation, improved water quality, biodiversity conservation, and animal welfare.
Further efforts are needed to evaluate the effects of direct and indirect mitigation policies in AFOLU. In some cases, policy targets could serve as useful proxies for assessing mitigation outcomes.
Policy Inventory for Mitigation Actions in the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use Sectors
2025 PIMA-AFOLU Update
