We live in a society which is very dependent on natural resources and the sustainability of our industrial growth is subjugated to economic interests. Humanity has recognised this problem and there are global efforts to overcome this, through international cooperation embodied in the Paris Agreement, the European Green Deal and other accords, which aim to lower the carbon emissions and limit global warming.
Climate change is a very complex topic and there are many points of view to who is to blame. Currently, China is the top emitter in absolute numbers [reference 1], Qatar is the biggest emitter per capita [reference 2], while the US and Western Europe top the list if we take into account the cumulative emissions that these countries have generated since the times of Industrial Revolution [reference 3]. No matter which stance we take, the facts say that we are currently spending the natural resources at a far higher pace than the one at which the planet’s biocapacity can regenerate, and this needs to change. An interesting research shows that if everyone lived like a US citizen we would need 5.1 Earths to sustain this kind of lifestyle. Agriculture, with 20% [reference 4] is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse emissions and it is crucial to optimise it without jeopardising productivity needed to support 10bn people that will call the planet home by the year 2050.
There are several ways to optimise agriculture, from supply chains to cutting food waste, but perhaps the most important aspect is the production on the field. In order to cut down emissions, we must decrease the level of inputs spent in production and plant crops and varieties suitable for the local growing conditions. Fertilisers and plant protection products emit greenhouse gasses in the field, but even more importantly require large amounts of energy in their production. Thus, actionable insights provided to farmers will have a large impact on both direct (scope 1) and indirect (scope 2 and 3) emissions. Furthermore, planting optimal crops and varieties means that the plants are more suitable for the local growing conditions and that they require less inputs for optimal growth. Within Nostradamus, we will calculate crop suitability maps and run the AI models in the present context and in the context of different scenarios of climate change, to help farmers become more resilient and achieve higher efficiency with a lower environmental footprint.
Climate change challenges us to rethink how we produce food in a world of growing population and fragile environment. By harnessing technologies like artificial intelligence, remote sensing and internet of things, we can ensure that we will be able to feed the humanity without harming the planet’s natural resources. Projects like Nostradamus are a step in this direction, empowering farmers with high-tech tools to adapt to changing growing conditions, reduce input consumption, and cut emissions across the value chain, so join us on this journey where productivity and sustainability go hand in hand.
REFERENCES:
Reference 1 – https://www.statista.com/statistics/271748/the-largest-emitters-of-co2-in-the-world/
Reference 2 – https://ourworldindata.org/per-capita-co2
Reference 3 – https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/
Reference 4 – https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/7fe33d41-3969-4f87-95c5-4b897229350b/content
Written by: Dr Oskar Marko, BioSense Institute
