The Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector is responsible for about 25 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, but can also be an important part of the solution to climate change, through adaptation and mitigation efforts.

 As part of its Strategy on Climate Change, FAO is developing the low carbon agricultural commodities approach , based on emission reductions along entire agricultural value chains, with tea and its business model being the first commodity to be evaluated. This report, developed in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), assesses the potential of lowcarbon and carbon neutral approaches to tea production.

 As the largest producer and consumer of tea in the world, China is collaborating with FAO to develop an overall framework and minimum standards for sustainable tea production. This report, based on the case studies carried in three tea fields in Southeast China, provides evidence regarding the results, impacts and achievements of the pilot conducted by the Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences (CAAS). The report develops a methodology for accounting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and an estimation of the mitigation and carbon sequestration potential based on the experiences in the pilot tea gardens in China. The report also sets up the key elements of the enabling environment in order to promote the replication of the model to other countries and the base work for a potential low carbon and/or carbon neutral tea certification.