International expert workshop on applying life cycle assessment to organic agriculture held in Bari, Italy

The workshop, organized by ICROFS - the International Centre for Research in Organic Food Systems - was part of a series of meetings of the Round Table for Organic Agriculture and Climate Change (RTOACC, seee www.organicandclimate.org ) and was supported by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It was held back-to-back with LCA Food 2010 - the 7th International Conference on Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-food Sector.

Some of the methodological challenges when using LCA are specifically problematic when applying LCA to organic agriculture. Some of the problems include estimating and accounting for changes in soil organic matter (soil carbon sequestration), accounting for nutrient and environmental load from imported manure, and for crop rotation effects and land use. Moreover, since the sector is relatively small, challenges in securing representative data are difficult to avoid.

The objective of the workshop was to exchange in-depth scientific knowledge on improved Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methods, models, and databases focusing on GHG emissions and sequestration potential of organic farming systems and organic food. This information is useful for organic sector organisations and operators to develop certification systems and energy and carbon labels and to reduce the climate impact of the organic sector.

About RTOACC

The Round Table on Organic Agriculture and Climate Change RTOACC is a multi-stakeholder initiative. It was founded on December 16, 2009 in Copenhagen, at the United Nation's Climate Change Conference. The activities are supported by the Food and Agriculture Organisation FAO.

Further information

• FiBL contact: Andreas Gattinger, FiBL, Frick
• Workshop details

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