9 December 2014: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) published a factsheet on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU), which highlights global emissions of about 10 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. These emissions are not offset by the two billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent removed from the atmosphere by forests and land, according to the infographic.

Agriculture accounts for the greatest source of GHG emissions followed by net forest conversion, with the two activities combining for almost 90% of total sources, according to the factsheet. It states that agriculture and livestock emissions have almost doubled over the last 50 years with livestock-based emissions contributing almost two-thirds of the current total of 5.4 billion tones of carbon dioxide equivalent. When including energy use for agriculture and fisheries, however, the factsheet notes that an additional 750 million tones of carbon dioxide equivalent should be added to the AFOLU data.

Of the total emissions from agriculture and livestock, 44% are attributed to Asia and 25% to North America. All infographics are drawn from data available through the FAO Statistics Division (FAOSTAT) emissions database, which is updated annually to provide comprehensive information on emissions from the agricultural sector. [Publication: Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use] [FAOSTAT Emissions Database]