Investing just two percent of global GDP each year can create a new “green economy,” according to Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication,  a report recently published by UN Environment Programme (UNEP). UNEP created the report to contribute to the UN’s upcoming 2012 Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Defining a green economy as “low carbon, resource efficient, and socially inclusive,” the report explains how to transition to a green economy through investment in ten key sectors, including agriculture. Potential benefits suggest that economic progress does not have to come at the expense of environmental health.
“Greening agriculture,” as the report calls the transition to more sustainable agricultural methods, would require about US$198 billion per year. But this could have high social, environmental and economic returns, including reducing crop losses, poverty and greenhouse gas emissions. Investments in small- and large-scale agriculture could, for example, create 47 million more jobs by 2050.
The report imagines a future where agriculture is no longer a main emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs)—agriculture emits anywhere from 13 to 30 percent of total GHGs worldwide. Greening agriculture, states the report, could change agriculture to “a GHG sink, while reducing deforestation and freshwater use by 55 percent and 35 percent.” (...)

The article:
http://www.mygreenchannel.org/index.php/my-green-channel/12-green-editorials/3442-un-report-highlights-agricultures-role-in-the-transition-to-a-green-economy.html

The Report:
http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy/GreenEconomyReport/tabid/29846/Default.aspx