The Organic Trade Association (OTA) have published a white paper “Advancing Organic to Mitigate Climate Change” highlighting how organic agriculture presents a growing opportunity to mitigate climate change while creating economic, environmental, and health benefits for all food system participants. The paper explores how organic agriculture mitigates climate change by reducing direct and indirect sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and acting as a carbon sink via soil carbon sequestration. Organic agriculture helps adapt to climate change by promoting soil health, biodiversity and resilient agroecosystems. Public and private efforts to support organic as a climate mitigation tool exist, but need stronger federal support to maximize benefits. The paper identifies specific recommendations to support organic farmers, and encourage transition to organic farming as a key strategy for climate change mitigation and adaptation in the agriculture sector.
