A land-based pathway to carbon neutrality in rural districts

The land sector has a crucial role in the global pathway towards carbon neutrality, being at the same time a significant contributor to global greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and an active removal and storage of atmospheric carbon when sustainably managed. In this paper, we develop and apply a land-based approach to assess how sustainable land management solutions can pursue the dual aim of regenerating degraded rural areas and offsetting agricultural GHG emissions, thereby contributing to the achievement of carbon neutrality in rural districts. The proposed land-based approach integrates different methodologies, including Life Cycle Assessment, literature data and IPCC methods, with the objective to determine the agriculture-related GHG emissions and the potential for mitigation through sustainable land-based solutions implemented within the same rural district. The application to a case study in the Mediterranean region, i.e., southern Apulia region (Italy) affected since 2013 by the “olive quick decline syndrome” which causal agent is identified in the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa , showed that sustainable land-based solutions, besides restoring the degraded farming system, can lead to a carbon neutral rural district. Land use conversions, afforestation and sustainable agricultural practices would lead to a reduction and a complete offset of the agricultural GHG emissions in the area, even producing a net carbon removal (i.e., negative emissions) up to about 384 Gg CO 2 year −1 . As such, this study demonstrates that sustainable land-use options are key in contributing to climate change mitigation while improving the landscape and related co-benefits.