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Advancing sustainability transformations in agriculture : An agent-based life cycle assessment for supporting policymaking

López i Losada, Raül LU orcid ; Larsson, Cecilia LU orcid ; Brady, Mark V. LU orcid ; Wilhelmsson, Fredrik LU and Hedlund, Katarina LU orcid (2025) In Sustainable Production and Consumption 60. p.96-110
Abstract

The European Green Deal (EGD) aims for agriculture to contribute positively to climate change mitigation and nature preservation while meeting growing societal needs for food, energy, and biomaterials. Delivering comprehensive policy action efficiently requires decision-support tools to assess the outcomes of interventions across multiple, and potentially conflicting, goals. By means of agent-based (territorial) life cycle assessment, we evaluate the effect of removing coupled cattle support and pricing greenhouse gas emissions of agricultural products in two regions in Southern Sweden as representative cases for intensive and extensive agriculture in the EU. Regional production features influenced policy outcomes by affecting the... (More)

The European Green Deal (EGD) aims for agriculture to contribute positively to climate change mitigation and nature preservation while meeting growing societal needs for food, energy, and biomaterials. Delivering comprehensive policy action efficiently requires decision-support tools to assess the outcomes of interventions across multiple, and potentially conflicting, goals. By means of agent-based (territorial) life cycle assessment, we evaluate the effect of removing coupled cattle support and pricing greenhouse gas emissions of agricultural products in two regions in Southern Sweden as representative cases for intensive and extensive agriculture in the EU. Regional production features influenced policy outcomes by affecting the profitability of possible production activities, and thereby the economic viability of alternatives to cattle. Production changes abroad were critical for the environmental lifecycle performance of the evaluated policy reforms, given the relatively low environmental impacts of Swedish production compared to global averages. Our ex-ante approach offers decision support by discerning the implications of policy interventions on the regional structure of production and subsequent effects on the environment, considering both regional and global aspects of the EGD objectives for agriculture. Ultimately, we hope our analysis can facilitate policymaking to speed the transition of agriculture towards EGD objectives.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Carbon price, Cattle, Coupled income support, European green Deal, Soil carbon, Territorial LCA
in
Sustainable Production and Consumption
volume
60
pages
15 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:105016868904
ISSN
2352-5509
DOI
10.1016/j.spc.2025.09.008
project
Production potential of agricultural biomass and policy instruments to promote a fossil-free society while meeting food production and environmental objectives
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Authors
id
c52eb29f-e6d3-4794-85c1-773bfa1af2be
date added to LUP
2025-11-05 15:05:03
date last changed
2026-06-04 15:17:23
@article{c52eb29f-e6d3-4794-85c1-773bfa1af2be,
  abstract     = {{<p>The European Green Deal (EGD) aims for agriculture to contribute positively to climate change mitigation and nature preservation while meeting growing societal needs for food, energy, and biomaterials. Delivering comprehensive policy action efficiently requires decision-support tools to assess the outcomes of interventions across multiple, and potentially conflicting, goals. By means of agent-based (territorial) life cycle assessment, we evaluate the effect of removing coupled cattle support and pricing greenhouse gas emissions of agricultural products in two regions in Southern Sweden as representative cases for intensive and extensive agriculture in the EU. Regional production features influenced policy outcomes by affecting the profitability of possible production activities, and thereby the economic viability of alternatives to cattle. Production changes abroad were critical for the environmental lifecycle performance of the evaluated policy reforms, given the relatively low environmental impacts of Swedish production compared to global averages. Our ex-ante approach offers decision support by discerning the implications of policy interventions on the regional structure of production and subsequent effects on the environment, considering both regional and global aspects of the EGD objectives for agriculture. Ultimately, we hope our analysis can facilitate policymaking to speed the transition of agriculture towards EGD objectives.</p>}},
  author       = {{López i Losada, Raül and Larsson, Cecilia and Brady, Mark V. and Wilhelmsson, Fredrik and Hedlund, Katarina}},
  issn         = {{2352-5509}},
  keywords     = {{Carbon price; Cattle; Coupled income support; European green Deal; Soil carbon; Territorial LCA}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{96--110}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Sustainable Production and Consumption}},
  title        = {{Advancing sustainability transformations in agriculture : An agent-based life cycle assessment for supporting policymaking}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2025.09.008}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.spc.2025.09.008}},
  volume       = {{60}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}