FAO develops new tools to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve biodiversity

January saw the launch of the new version of the FAO Ex-Ante Carbon Balance tool, EX-ACT. The tool allows users to estimate and track the impact on greenhouse gas emissions of investments, projects and policies related to  agricultural, forestry and other land use (AFOLU). EX-ACT can be used to track a number of variables within the AFOLU sector, such as energy, infrastructure, management of soils, fisheries, aquaculture and more. The free, open-source tool was tested in more than 100 countries and is being used by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the World Bank, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), among others. FAO has also developed the B-INTACT tool, which will increase accuracy and account for the ecological value and biodiversity sensitivity of project sites, as well as the EX-ACT VC tool, which allows policy makers to identify off-farm sources of greenhouse gas emissions and socio-economic benefits throughout the value chain.

More information is available here.