Carbon markets and food systems Issued on 2026 by CIFOR-ICRAF: Bogor, Indonesia and Nairobi, Kenya

Carbon markets are increasingly recognized as a central instrument of international climate cooperation, yet their potential to support the decarbonization of food systems remains largely untapped. Food systems—spanning agriculture, land use and land-use change and forestry, energy, industry, and waste—account for around one third of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, while offering substantial mitigation opportunities across production, value chains, and consumption. This paper provides one of the first comprehensive assessments of how food-system-related mitigation activities are represented in international carbon markets. Drawing on an original merged database covering more than 9,200 projects from both UNFCCC mechanisms (notably the Clean Development Mechanism) and major independent standards, it analyses nearly 4.9 GtCO₂e of issued carbon credits through a food- system lens.