
Eight Building Blocks MeasuringCarbon Footprintsof Agri‑Food Products EIGHT BUILDING BLOCKS This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty overany territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. Photo credits:Cover © waragon injan/Shutterstock.com. Corrigenda to OECD publications may be found at: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/support/corrigenda.html.© OECD 2025 Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) This work is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. By using this work, you accept to be bound by the terms of this licence(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Attribution– you must cite the work.Translations– you must cite the original work, identify changes to the original and add the following text:In the event of any discrepancy between the original work and thetranslation, only the text of original work should be considered valid.Adaptations– you must cite the original work and add the following text:This is an adaptation of an original work by the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed inthis adaptation should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its Member countries.Third-party material– the licence does not apply to third-party material in the work. If using such material, you are responsible for obtaining permission from the third party and forany claims of infringement.You must not use the OECD logo, visual identity or cover image without express permission or suggest the OECD endorses your use of the work.Any dispute arising under this licence shall be settled by arbitration in accordance with the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Arbitration Rules 2012. The seat of arbitration shallbe Paris (France). The number of arbitrators shall be one. Preface In pursuit of their net zero objectives, countries are using, or plan to use, a widely varied set of approaches.Thisrichness of policy experiences provides valuable insights on the effects of different tools, which canbe adapted to unique national circumstances, but international cooperation will be needed to ensure thesetools are as effective as they can be. Towards this, the Inclusive Forum on Carbon Mitigation Approaches (IFCMA) is the OECD’s flagshipinitiative, designed to help optimise the globalimpact of emissions-reduction efforts around the worldthroughbetter data and information sharing,evidence-based mutual learning and better mutualunderstanding, and inclusive multilateral dialogue. The IFCMA is taking stock of different approaches,mapping policies to the emissions they cover, and modelling their impacts. Recent analytical work by the IFCMA highlights the need for sector-and product-level carbon intensitymetrics to support the design and evaluation of mitigation policies and enable thedevelopment of marketsfor low-carbon goods. More accurate, timely, and granular product-level carbon intensity metrics couldform a foundation on which a wide range of public and private mitigation efforts could be built. The report Measuring Carbon Footprints of Agri-Food Products is part of our effort to further support thisobjective by exploring essential building blocks to develop a reliable system to measure carbon footprintsin agri-food supply chains. The agri-food sector accounts for one-third ofhuman-made emissions, makingit a key focus for reducing global emissions. At the same time, it supports millions of livelihoods, includingsmall-scale farmers and communities in low-and middle-income countries, highlighting the importance ofminimisingcompliance costs for farmers and businesses, and avoiding the unintended creation of tradebarriers. Looking ahead, governments can further enhance transparency in deploying farm-level calculation toolsby using the latest scientific evidence, as well as enhancing communication of carbon footprints data alongthe supply chain. Further support is also needed for farmers, small and medium-sized enterprises, andproducers in developing countries to overcome practical barriers in calculating carbon footprints. The OECD will continue to support globallybetter coordinated and more effective carbon mitigationapproaches, including identifying strategies for governments to enhance the quality and availability ofsector-and product-level carbon intensity metrics. Foreword Food systems account for an estimated one-third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The 2022OECD Meeting of Agriculture Ministers therefore committed to increase climate change mitigation effortsby reducing emissions from agriculture and food systems and by increasing carbon sequestration. In 2023,160 Heads of State and Government similarly affirmed in the COP28 UAE Declaration on SustainableAgriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action, that any path to achieving the goals of the ParisAgreemen