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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ERA-GAS (ERA-NET for Monitoring and Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases from Agri- and Silvi-Culture)

Teaser

Summary

The agricultural sector in Europe faces significant challenges in curbing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while maintaining food security and sustainability in a changing climate. Projected increases in the worldâ€™s population and a shift in emerging countries towards higher consumption of resource-intensive food items will put unprecedented pressure on global agriculture. To meet this demand, agriculture will have to produce almost 50% more food, feed and biofuel in 2050 than it did in 2012, according to the FAO. This will require the development of innovative farming and forestry systems that ensure sustainability while increasing productivity.
To address this grand challenge, a coordinated international approach is needed. FACCE ERA-GAS is the ERA-NET Cofund for Monitoring and Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases from Agri- and Silviculture. The FACCE ERA-GAS consortium comprises funding agencies and project partners from 19 organisations across 13 European countries. Our aim is to strengthen the transnational coordination of research programmes in the EU and provide added value to research and innovation on GHG
monitoring and mitigation.
FACCE ERA-GAS is pooling significant financial resources from participating national funders with EU co-financing to implement a joint transnational research call in the area of GHG mitigation and monitoring. In addition, further joint activities that go beyond the co-funded call, including additional joint call(s) without EU co-funding, are planned in order to increase international collaboration on sustainable agriculture and forestry.
The specific objectives of the ERA-GAS Cofund are to:
- design, coordinate and implement a joint co-funded call between partners and the EC aimed at improved monitoring and mitigation of agricultural and forestry GHGs in Europe
- enhance R & I capacity in the area of GHG mitigation by promoting cooperation and coordination across nations
- organise further joint activities, including at least one joint call, without EU co-funding
- establish new networking structures and reinforce existing partnerships focussed on GHG mitigation in the sector
- reduce fragmentation and duplication of research activities and identify international best practices
- develop enabling technologies and innovative solutions to improve inventories, increase the GHG efficiency of food, feed and fuel production and enhance carbon sinks
- promote the systematic exchange of knowledge between multidisciplinary research and innovation actors and increase engagement with stakeholder communities

Work performed

During the 1st and 2nd Reporting Periods we have made significant progress in achieving our overall aim.

FACCE ERA-GAS has brought funding agencies together from across Europe and the world to pool national money to fund transnational projects. We designed and implemented a Joint Call which was launched in March 2016, with additional contributions from New Zealand. Following a 2-stage evaluation by an International Evaluation Committee, ten transnational projects were funded, with total requested funding of â‚¬14.1M. These projects involve 71 project partners from 39 different research institutions/industry partners across 13 European countries, New Zealand and the US. Over the coming years, they will conduct collaborative research to develop improved GHG mitigation solutions, reporting mechanisms and policy instruments for the agriculture and forestry sectors. In 2018, together with two other ERA-NETs, ERA-NET SusAn and ICT-AGRI-2, we launched a second call, without EU cofunding. The overall objective of the 2018 Joint Call is to contribute to the development of novel technologies, solutions and systems to reduce the GHG intensity of animal production systems in Europe and beyond. This call consists 27 national public funding parties from 20 European countries and 4 Third Party countries (Canada, Chile, Uruguay and New Zealand), and has a combined a total funding available of â‚¬17M to fund transnational collaborative research projects.

Other highlights and main results include:
- Creation of internal financial & progress reporting tools to ensure that the project is delivered on time and within budget
- A mid-term reporting questionnaire for funded projects.
- Communication resources including a dedicated website, an ERA-GAS page within the FACCE-JPI website, a Twitter page (@FACCE_ERAGAS), three newsletters, a brochure and pull-up banner, PowerPoint template, a communication quick guide for funded projects.
- Communication Strategy & Dissemination Plan
- Joint Workshops with ERA-NET SusAn and ICT-AGRI 2, on the topic of â€œSmart Mitigation of GHG emissions in livestock productionâ€.
- Active engagement and communication with FACCE-JPI, other ERA-NETs and working groups.
- Planned a Summer School in parallel with the NCGG8 conference
- One completed meeting of all funded projects and another meeting planned

Final results

There is an urgent requirement for action across the EU in order to tackle the dual challenges posed by climate change and food security. These substantial challenges can only be tackled at an international level by bridging national research activities and pooling expertise and financial resources. Furthermore, in many cases, pan-European or transnational-scale synthesis of information is required in order to generate consensus of opinion and achieve critical mass.

FACCE ERA-GAS is going beyond the state-of-the-art by implementing two joint transnational research calls worth â‚¬14.1M and â‚¬17M in the areas of agricultural and forestry GHG mitigation and monitoring; and novel technologies, solutions and systems to reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions in animal production systems respectively. This approach will improve coordination and alignment of research activities and reduce overlap between national and EU funding, delivering a better overall return on investment. Enhanced cooperation will reinforce existing collaborative networks of GHG research and establish new harmonising activities between national programmes across Europe and globally through our international partners.

Durable cooperation will be established between the partners and their national research programmes (through close cooperation, regular communication, meetings and mutual learning activities) which will endure past the lifetime of the ERA-NET. The joint activities planned will also provide opportunities for sharing good practice in implementing research programmes, exchanging experiences and setting common goals. In this way, the partners will not only learn how best to operate an ERA-NET, but will also be able to improve the efficiency and impact of their own national programmes.

FACCE ERA-GAS is integrally linked with FACCE-JPI and well positioned to provide input into FACCE-JPI activities on GHG mitigation and monitoring (mapping of on-going actions and foresight activities). This close coordination will also ensure that the impact of FACCE ERA-GAS activities is maximised, that duplication of research and research coordination efforts is minimised and that close links are maintained with the wider FACCE-JPI community, stakeholders and international partners.

We believe that through this enhanced cooperation and better alignment of national research priorities, FACCE ERA-GAS activities will have the scale and scope necessary to maximise the impact of GHG research activities in Europe.