Europe’s leading business lobby group has drawn attention to agroforestry as a key climate mitigation tool.

In its response to the European Union’s consultation on carbon leakage, Business Europe has stated that “agriculture in particular could mitigate up to a third of current EU GHG emissions (e.g. through agroforestry techniques).”

In May this year, the European Commission began a public consultation process to canvass opinion on different options for a system to avoid carbon leakage after 2020 under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

In its submission, BusinessEurope says it “favors an EU-wide market-based approach with a strong ETS as the main instrument to reduce emissions for industry and other covered sectors and to promote investments in low carbon technologies.”

BusinessEurope (BE) is Europe's largest business association made up of 41 national employers and industry federations. It plays a critical role in ensuring that companies' interests are represented and defended with the principal aim of preserving and strengthening corporate competitiveness.