Introduction
In a review article published in this Journal in 2010 (Scialabba and Mueller-Lindenlauf, Reference Scialabba and Müller-Lindenlauf2010), we described the mitigation and adaptation potential of organic agriculture. The article was cited by 266 articles (checked November 21, 2025). In the present update, we reflect on our findings and update the results from 2010. Since 2010, the issue of climate change and the contribution of the food system to the change gained momentum. Even though we had considered the 2° Celsius target unattainable in 2010 (Scialabba and Müller-Lindenlauf, Reference Scialabba and Müller-Lindenlauf2010), 195 nations agreed in Paris in 2015 in ‘holding the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels’ (UNFCCC, 2015). The most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report (IPCC/AR6) considers climate-related risks even higher compared to earlier reports (IPCC, 2023), emphasizing the urgency for transition to climate-neutral economies. Negative effects of climate change are no longer a topic for the future but are a reality (IPCC, 2023), and urgent action is critical because current policies are estimated to result in 2.7oC by the end of the century (Climate Analytics and New Climate Institute, 2024; UNFCCC, 2021). So, the question today is: can organic farming promote the transition to climate-neutral and climate-adapted agriculture?
Status quo of organic agriculture
Certified organic agriculture has continued to increase in the last years and tripled its global land coverage since our last article. In 2023, 96.4 million hectares of croplands were certified organic, which corresponds to 2 percent of the global agricultural land (Willer et al., Reference Willer, Travnicek and Schlatter2024). While certified organic farmers amount to 4.5 million globally (Willer et al., Reference Willer, Travnicek and Schlatter2024), there are at least as many organically managed systems where farmers choose to forego certification for a variety of reasons. Furthermore, millions of peasants and small family farms involved in subsistence and local-market production apply organic practices through indigenous polycultures and other regenerative cultivations without being recognized, or certified, as organic. Although organic agriculture is essentially an environmental claim, the implementation of organic standards tends to focus on the prohibition of synthetic substances while dismissing environmental requirements, such as those enshrined in the IFOAM Common Objectives and Requirements of Organic Standards that emphasize long-term, ecological, and system-based management (IFOAM, 2011). In the Pacific Island Countries, where sea level rise is a concrete threat to livelihoods, the organic standards explicitly mandate climate-related requirements (Pacific Community, 2008), while in the USA, organic standards have been complemented with regenerative standards focused on soil carbon sequestration and mitigating the effects of climate change (ROC, 2018). In 2010, we concluded that organic farming could achieve further emission reductions if specific climate protection was integrated into the organic standards. Despite some adjustments, this did not happen in a comprehensive manner. During the last years, new forms of alternative agriculture gained popularity, such as regenerative agriculture (Dudek and Rosa, Reference Dudek and Rosa2023; Kumar et al., Reference Kumar, Pandey, Srivastava and Ranjan2024) and agroecology (Shah, Tasawwar and Otterpohl, Reference Shah, Tasawwar and Otterpohl2021; Losada et al., Reference Losada, Grandas, Torres, Trindade, López and Domínguez2023; Galt et al., Reference Galt, Pinzón, Robinson and Baukloh Coronil2024). These approaches are more ecologically oriented than conventional farming, and similar to organic agriculture (Migliorini & Wezel, Reference Migliorini and Wezel2017; Lemke et al., Reference Lemke, Smith, Thiim and Stump2024; Mambo & Lhermie, Reference Mambo and Lhermie2024), but they are open to interpretation and lack clear standards (Niggli, Reference Niggli2015; Hatt et al., Reference Hatt, Armbrecht, Lundgren and Wyckhuys2024; Kumar et al., Reference Kumar, Pandey, Srivastava and Ranjan2024).
Contribution of organic agriculture to climate-neutral farming
Emission reduction targets
Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are usually expressed in carbon dioxide (CO2)-equivalents. But today, we know that in terms of emission reduction pathways, CO2 equivalents (particularly GWP 100, that is, the global warming potential for a 100-year period) do not adequately capture the decay of the three most important GHGs: carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4). The perturbation lifetime of methane is estimated at 11.8 ± 1.8 years and the perturbation lifetime of N2O at 109 ± 10 years (Forster et al. Reference Forster, Storelvmo, Armour, Collins, Dufresne, Frame, Lunt, Mauritsen, Palmer, Watanabe, Wild, Zhang, Masson-Delmotte, Zhai, Pirani, Connors, Péan, Berger, Caud, Chen, Goldfarb, Gomis, Huang, Leitzell, Lonnoy, Matthews, Maycock, Waterfield, Yelekçi, Yu and Zhou2021, p. 1012), while CO2 is very stable and hardly decays but can be removed from the atmosphere (e.g., by photosynthesis). To achieve climate neutrality, CH4 and N2O emissions must therefore be reduced to the extent that annual emissions do not exceed their annual decay rate. IPCC/AR6 indicates that anthropogenic CO2 emissions must reach net zero by 2070 to limit global warming to 2°C, while global methane emissions must be limited only to about 50 percent of the 2015 emissions (IPCC, Reference Lee and Romero2023, p. 22). The IPCC special report ‘Global warming of 1.5°C’ states that all N2O emissions should be reduced by about 25 percent until 2050, compared to 2020 levels (IPCC, 2018, p. 13), though most recent information indicates that such emissions should be cut by over 40 percent to remain below the 1.5oC pathway (UNEP and FAO, 2024).
The differentiation in emission reduction targets for CH4 and N2O was not considered in our 2010 paper, though agriculture is responsible for 53 percent of CH4 and 78 percent of N2O emissions (FAO, 2021). Despite a large increase in efforts for reducing GHG emissions, there are only slight changes in the annual GHG emissions from agrifood systems since 2010 (FAO, 2024). Compared to the year 2000, emissions from land use change decreased by 30 percent, while pre- and post-production grew by 52 percent due to activities along the supply chain (FAO, 2024). Thus, activities beyond the farm gate must also be considered.
Direct effects of a shift to organic agriculture
Fossil CO 2
Organic standards do not prohibit the use of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are not ‘synthetic’ and were not considered harmful by the founders of organic farming of the 20th century. We did not mention this obvious fact in 2010, but the current perspectives focus on phasing-out fossil fuels. CO2 emissions from fossil fuels depend on both the energy demand and the energy mix. A review evaluating around 50 individual studies on the energy requirements of conventional and organic farms confirmed our finding that organic systems have a lower energy demand, namely because higher energy demands for tillage and mechanical weed control are offset by a lower energy demand due to the avoidance of mineral fertilizers (Smith, Williams and Peace, Reference Smith, Williams and Pearce2013); the synthetic N fertilizer supply chain is responsible for 2.1% of global GHG emissions (Menegat, Ledo and Tirado, Reference Menegat, Ledo and Tirado2022). Overall, organic farms perform better than conventional for nearly all crops when energy use is expressed per production area, but results are variable per unit of product, due to lower yields in developed countries (Smith, Williams and Pearce, Reference Smith, Williams and Pearce2013).
A climate-neutral agriculture requires the transition from fossil to renewable energy sources, but this transition might increase energy costs and reduce total energy availability. Organic farming supports the transition by foregoing mineral fertilizers and other external inputs, by harnessing ecosystem services, and by recommending the use of renewable energy sources for greenhouses (e.g., IFOAM, 2014).
Renewable energy policies (REN, 2024) favor the integration onto farms of solar panels for electricity generation and of biomass digesters to convert organic waste into biofuel. However, the energy transition in agriculture—and of agrivoltaics in particular—entails trade-offs and synergies regarding land and resource use (Goldberg, Reference Goldberg2023), as farmers often prefer guaranteed income from land lease for solar energy to volatile cultivations. We could not find scientific evidence regarding fossil fuel substitution with renewable energy by organic farms, as compared to their conventional counterparts. Further research is needed to assess to what extent the higher awareness of organic farmers for a healthy environment promotes the energy transition.
Land use change and biomass carbon stocks
Land use change leading to biomass carbon stock changes accounts for 11 percent of the global GHG emissions (IPCC, 2023, p. 7). Most relevant sources are drained organic soils, deforestation, and forest fires (FAOTSTAT, 2025), with slowing deforestation rates (FAO, 2025) and increased forest fires (Global Forest Watch, 2025). Between 2001 and 2024, forest fires are emerging as top drivers of global forest loss (29%), namely due to more extreme heat and drought that compound human-degraded landscapes (WRI, 2024). Organic standards still do not contain any legally binding regulations for the management of drained soils, and only some of them regulate biomass burning (e.g., Pacific Community, 2008). In this respect, organic farms are subject only to the same national laws as conventional farms. Organic rules have not significantly changed since 2010, although we mentioned that a further development of organic standards is needed to explicitly ban organic farming on previously deforested areas. Unfortunately, this did not happen, as was also criticized by Tayleur and Phalan (Reference Tayleur and Phalan2016) in a response to Reganold and Wachter (Reference Reganold and Wachter2016).
Climate change is expected to reduce average agricultural yields in many regions, particularly in lower latitudes (Rezaei et al., Reference Rezaei, Webber, Asseng, Boote, Durand, Ewert, Martre and MacCarthy2023), leading to a narrowing of the yield gap between organic and conventional systems, currently estimated between 8 and 25 percent lower in organic systems (Muller et al., Reference Muller, Schader, El-Hage Scialabba, Brüggemann, Isensee, Erb, Smith, Klocke, Leiber, Stolze and Niggli2017). For tropical and sub-tropical cropping systems, Te Pas & Rees (Reference Te Pas and Rees2014) found 26 percent higher organic yields and 53 percent higher soil organic carbon stocks (SOC) in organic systems, with least developed countries receiving least precipitations profiting most. A review of 74 studies showed that organic farming increases SOC in top soils, with an average sequestration rate of 0.45 Mg C/ha/y above conventional sequestration rates (all studies) and 0.1 Mg C/ha/y for the highest quality studies (Gattinger et al., Reference Gattinger, Muller, Haeni, Skinner, Fliessbach, Buchmann, Mäder, Stolze, Smith, Scialabba and Niggli2012). If we extrapolate these numbers for global croplands, it would sum up to 9–44 percent of the agricultural sector emissions. A more recent meta-analysis found that organic best practices, in sum, improve SOC by 18 percent on average (Crystal-Ornelas, Thapa and Tully, Reference Crystal-Ornelas, Thapa and Tully2021). These results confirm our assessment in 2010.
Incorporating forages and ruminants into regeneratively managed cropping systems is reported to elevate SOC and improve soil ecological functions (Teague and Kreuter, Reference Teague and Kreuter2020). Land restoration that reverses desertification through holistic planned grazing—currently applied over some 29 million hectares in 30 countries (Savory Institute, 2024)—offers great opportunities to augment land allocation to organic-like practices that increase soil carbon sequestration and protect from desertification and megafires.
Considering that organic carbon stocks are not permanent, a shift in management practices (e.g., tillage) or natural leakage effects (e.g., drainage) can reverse sequestration and re-emit stored carbon. Thus, the difficulty to guarantee permanence of SOC sequestration makes it challenging to include soil carbon sequestration in a climate change mitigation strategy or certification system (Paul et al., Reference Paul, Bartkowski, Dönmez, Don, Mayer, Steffens, Weigl, Wiesmeier, Wolf and Helming2023).
Methane emissions
Recent publications confirm higher methane emissions for organic paddy rice fields, mostly because of organic fertilization (Arunrat et al., Reference Arunrat, Sereenonchai, Chaowiwat, Wang and Hatano2022; Hu et al., Reference Hu, Wade, Shen, Zhong, Qiu and Lin2024). These findings do not consider the emission reduction options we discussed in our paper 2010, especially optimized drainage.
A controversial methane source in agriculture is animal husbandry, as methane is emitted via enteric fermentation in ruminants and manure management (slurry systems). Manure composting is often used in organic farming, and particularly biodynamic agriculture (Biodynamic Federation, 2024), thereby reducing emissions from manure management. As in 2010, we assume pasturing in organic farms significantly lowers methane emissions from manure because it lowers the share of anaerobic liquid manure. Slurry fermentation in biogas plants could further lower manure-based emissions close to zero, but this is not mandatory for organic farms.
Organic livestock management in extensive and grassland-based systems is reported to negatively affect climate change. To take advantage of grasslands, organic expansion may lead to a shift from monogastric to ruminants; scholars calculated that this would lead to potentially higher CH4 emissions (Barbieri et al., Reference Barbieri, Pellerin, Seufert, Smith, Ramankutty and Nesme2021; Smith et al., Reference Smith, Jones, Kirk, Pearce and Williams2018). Albeit methane emissions per unit of produce (e.g., CH4 per kg of organic milk) are higher in organic systems, the total GHG emissions are generally lower due to soil carbon sequestration and lower energy demand (mostly because of differences in feeding an fertilization) (Frank, Schmid and Hülsbergen, Reference Frank, Schmid and Hülsbergen2019; Lambotte et al., Reference Lambotte, De Cara, Brocas and Bellassen2023), while delivering a range of other benefits, such as utilizing grasslands that cannot be otherwise used for food production, thus sparing on concentrate feed and related arable land use.
Nitrous oxide emissions
Recent research confirms our findings from 2010, namely that N2O emissions per unit area are lower in organic agriculture. Skinner et al. (Reference Skinner, Gattinger, Muller, Mäder, Flieβbach, Stolze, Ruser and Niggli2014) found about 14 percent lower-area-scaled N2O fluxes from organically managed soils (but higher-yield-scaled emissions). Organic systems are mostly low external-input systems compared to conventional systems, leading to lower yields but higher nitrogen use efficiency (Kubota et al., Reference Kubota, Iqbal, Quideau, Dyck and Spaner2018). Barbieri et al. (Reference Barbieri, Pellerin, Seufert, Smith, Ramankutty and Nesme2021) showed a shift to organic agriculture would drastically limit nitrogen fluxes and hence N2O emission potential, because of not using mineral nitrogen fertilizers and because of a 20 percent reduction in livestock populations.
Organic agriculture as an adaptation strategy
Short overview on climate change impacts
Climate change will increase abiotic stress for agricultural crops and animals by increasing heat waves, droughts, heavy precipitation, and floods as well as tropical cyclones (IPCC, 2023). Cereal losses by droughts and heat waves already increased and are most likely to further increase, as will losses due to floods (Anderson, Bayer and Edwards, Reference Anderson, Bayer and Edwards2020). Climate change will further increase the variability in crop yields (Verma et al., Reference Verma, Song, Kumari, Jagadesh, Singh, Bhatt, Singh, Seth and Li2025), as well as crop and animal susceptibility to new pests and diseases (Anderson, Bayer and Edwards, Reference Anderson, Bayer and Edwards2020).
Soil fertility and yields
Compared to conventional agriculture, yields are considered lower in organic systems (Badgley et al., Reference Badgley, Moghtader, Quintero, Zakem, Chappell, Avilés-Vázquez, Samulon and Perfecto2007; Seufert, Ramankutty and Foley, Reference Seufert, Ramankutty and Foley2012; De Ponti, Rijk and Van Ittersum, Reference De Ponti, Rijk and Van Ittersum2012; Ponisio et al., Reference Ponisio, M’Gonigle, Mace, Palomino, De Valpine and Kremen2015). But in the context of climate change and resource scarcity, the yield gap issue between organic and conventional agriculture becomes less relevant (Wilbois & Schmidt, Reference Wilbois and Schmidt2019). Considering the need to adapt agriculture to produce within the planetary boundaries, namely in terms of nitrogen emissions, future restrictions on nitrogen fertilizers, coupled with water scarcity, largely favor the relative performance of organic production systems (Barbieri et al. Reference Barbieri, Pellerin, Seufert, Smith, Ramankutty and Nesme2021). In tropical and sub-tropical cropping systems, regions receiving least precipitations profit most from organic farming, due to increased soil organic matter and thus, improved resilience to droughts (Te Pas & Rees, Reference Te Pas and Rees2014). Other authors confirmed that organic farming systems increase yield stability on tropical degraded soils (Kiboi et al., Reference Kiboi, Bautze, Matheri, Riar and Fliessbach2025). In particular, biodynamic farming that actively builds humus, especially in its supramolecular form, is essential for physical stability, chemical fertility, and biological activity in the soil (Piccolo and Drosos, Reference Piccolo and Drosos2025).
Diversification and maintenance of multifunctional landscapes
Organic farms require a broader crop rotation, including legumes for nitrogen fixation and more non-legume crops to balance nutrient use and control pest risks. Recent studies showed that crop-rotation diversification increases agricultural resilience under heat and drought stress (Bowles et al., Reference Bowles, Mooshammer, Socolar, Calderón, Cavigelli, Culman, Deen, Drury, Garcia, Garcia, Gaudin, Harkcom, Lehman, Osborne, Robertson, Salerno, Schmer, Strock and Grandy2020; Degani et al., Reference Degani, Leigh, Barber, Jones, Lukac, Sutton and Potts2019; Shah et al., Reference Shah, Modi, Pandey, Subedi, Aryal, Pandey and Shrestha2021). The integration of landscape elements as trees is confirmed as an effective climate adaptation strategy (Scherr, Shames and Friedman, Reference Scherr, Shames and Friedman2012; Lasco et al., Reference Lasco, Delfino, Catacutan, Simelton and Wilson2014). A review on agroecology practices such as diversification, organic nutrients, and legume cultivation—all common methods for organic farmers—showed that the integration of these practices into smallholder systems positively affected climate change adaptation and increased yields (Dittmer et al., Reference Dittmer, Rose, Snapp, Kebede, Brickman, Shelton, Egler, Stier and Wollenberg2023). Ecological infrastructures are required by biodynamic standards for at least 10 percent of a farm’s total area (Biodynamic Federation, 2024) but are less explicit in organic standards. These models inspired the EU commitments for 2030 which include, among others, to bring at least 25 percent of agricultural land under organic management, and to dedicate at least 10 percent of agricultural area to high-diversity landscape features to fulfil climate and environmental objectives (European Union, 2020).
Selection of crops and animal genetics
Organic agriculture prefers seeds and breeds adapted to local conditions and thus, with signatures for adaptation to climate change (Hoffmann, Reference Hoffmann2013; Hellin, Bellon and Hearne, Reference Hellin, Bellon and Hearne2014; Lopes et al., Reference Lopes, El-Basyoni, Baenziger, Singh, Royo, Ozbek, Aktas, Ozer, Ozdemir, Manickavelu, Ban and Vikram2015). Adapted livestock breeds are resilient to local conditions as they have evolved robustness, disease resistance, and ability to thrive on local forage. This animal self-sufficiency and reduced reliance on external inputs is exploited by organic producers.
In recent years, crop breeding programs using genetically diverse, evolving population mixtures have emerged as a decentralized and efficient way to ensure continuous natural adaptation of crops to climate change. These ‘evolutionary mixtures’ outperform by far gene editing and any other biotechnologies through on-farm evolution, participatory selection, adaptation to specific agroecological conditions, and resilience to climate change at relatively minimal costs (Ceccarelli and Grando, Reference Ceccarelli and Grando2020).
Integrated crop-livestock systems
Although organic agriculture aims to close, to the extent possible, the farm nutrient cycle by integrating crop production and animal husbandry, many commercial organic farms still segregate crops and animals due to management complexity. However, biodynamic agriculture standards mandate animals on farms (Biodynamic Federation, 2024). Research shows that integrated plant–animal systems increase climate change adaptation, while providing a buffer against unpredictable climate events (Delandmeter et al., Reference Delandmeter, De Faccio Carvalho, Bremm, Dos Santos Cargnelutti, Bindelle and Dumont2024).
Effects of organic lifestyles on climate change adaptation and mitigation
Dietary shifts
Policies increasingly aim to reduce ruminant-related emissions and animal protein demand (OECD and FAO, 2019). The frequently cited ‘planetary health diet’ study proved a shift to a more plant-based human diet in combination with food waste reduction and improved production practices is needed to feed the 2050 world population healthy and within the planetary boundaries (Willet et al., Reference Willett, Rockström, Loken, Springmann, Lang, Vermeulen, Garnett, Tilman, DeClerck, Wood, Jonell, Clark, Gordon, Fanzo, Hawkes, Zurayk, Rivera, De Vries and Majele Sibanda2019). Schader et al. (Reference Schader, Muller, Scialabba, Hecht, Isensee, Erb, Smith, Makkar, Klocke, Leiber, Schwegler, Stolze and Niggli2015) estimated that animal production that avoids using food-competing feedstuffs—with ruminants fed on grasslands and monogastrics fed on recycled biomass and by-products—can globally reduce GHG by 18 percent and arable land occupation by 26 percent, while providing enough calories and proteins for the 2050 population. However, such a scenario entails global dietary changes that reduce animal food consumption from 38 to 11 percent of animal protein in the total energy supply, which remains slightly above the minimum level of 10 percent recommended for healthy diets. For such a sustainable food supply scenario to be also organic (as organic fetch lower yields), the reduction of food-competing feedstuff must be complemented by 50 percent reduction of food loss and waste (Muller et al., Reference Muller, Schader, El-Hage Scialabba, Brüggemann, Isensee, Erb, Smith, Klocke, Leiber, Stolze and Niggli2017). Further studies showed that a shift to organic agriculture lowers emissions when combined with more plant-based human diets and food waste reduction (Ahrens, Land and Krumdieck, Reference Ahrens, Land and Krumdieck2022; Basnet et al., Reference Basnet, Wood, Röös, Jansson, Fetzer and Gordon2023). Consumer awareness about the health, animal welfare, and global environmental impacts of meat and milk consumption is currently slowing demand for these products (El-Hage Scialabba, Reference El-Hage Sciaballa2022), with organic lifestyle contributing to this trend in European countries (Treu et al., Reference Treu, Nordborg, Cederberg, Heuer, Claupein, Hoffmann and Berndes2017; Baudry et al., Reference Baudry, Allès, Péneau, Touvier, Méjean, Hercberg, Galan, Lairon and Kesse-Guyot2017).
Mindsets, awareness, and cooperation
Different worldviews, values, and perceptions influence behavioral changes in agricultural transformation processes (Gosnell, Gill and Voyer, Reference Gosnell, Gill and Voyer2019). Even though organic standards often lack explicit GHG guidance, the principles of organic agriculture as expressed by IFOAM (IFOAM, 2014) positively trigger climate-sensitive mind shifts. For example, the Pacific Organic Learning Fam Network, launched in 2020, actively promotes climate adaptation. Most organic farmers are organized in associations or cooperatives (e.g., Lee, 2021; BÖLW, 2025) and case studies from different world regions confirm the importance of cooperatives for providing professional networks, training, and extension services on ecological transition and climate change adaptation (Asai and Langer, Reference Asai and Langer2014; Jacobi et al., Reference Jacobi, Schneider, Bottazzi, Pillco, Calizaya and Rist2015; Bianco et al., Reference Bianco, Arfa, Ghali, Turpin and Daniel2019; Fachrista, Reference Fachrista2019; Wei, Kong and Wang, Reference Wei, Kong and Wang2022). More research is needed to further analyze the impact of the organic community in this transition.
Organic consumers have pioneered local supply chains that reduce GHG emissions from long-distance transport, packaging, processing, and food waste. Several box scheme models exist worldwide and increase, and different forms of Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) are being established, with over 13,000 farms in the USA (USDA, 2017) and 1 million consumers involved in Europe (Urgenci, 2016). A recent review confirms lower GHG emissions in CSA farms compared to reference systems (Egli, Rüschhoff and Priess, Reference Egly, Rüschhoff and Priess2023).
Conclusions
Today’s scientific evidence shows that the principles of organic agriculture could significantly contribute to a transition to climate-neutral food systems. This does not apply to many certified organic lands which limit practices to mandatory requirements. However, even the latter significantly offsets agricultural emissions by avoiding mineral fertilizers and increasing soil carbon sequestration. Organic farming methods can also significantly contribute to climate adaptation in terms of better resilience under climatic variability and stress conditions. Most relevant to achieve climate neutrality of the food system is a shift toward more plant-based diets and reduced food wastage. Although behavioral change is more challenging to achieve, the principles of organic agriculture can positively trigger a climate-sensitive mind-shift of consumption and production patterns. The all-encompassing systemic approach of organic agriculture indicates a viable path to food system resilience to climate change.
Competing interests
The author(s) declare none.
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