Modelling GHG Mitigation Measures and Their Economic Effects in Austrian Agriculture

Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in all sectors – including agriculture – is key to reach the ambitious European and national climate targets. We analyse four mitigation scenarios with increasing efforts to reduce GHG emissions from agriculture. The mitigation scenarios were developed in a stakeholder process and combine several newly implemented and currently developed policies, agronomic and (socio-)economic developments. By applying three quantitative models, we analyse their effects on (i) agricultural production activities, (ii) agricultural GHG emissions, and (iii) the national economy (i.e., gross value added) and employment. The model results show that a significant reduction in GHG emissions comes with a significant reduction in agricultural production.