Wollenberg, EvaRichards, MerylSmith, PeteHavlík, PetrObersteiner, MichaelTubiello, Francesco N.Herold, MartinGerber, PierreCarter, SarahReisinger, Andrewvan Vuuren, Detlef P.Dickie, AmyNeufeldt, HenrySander, Björn O.Wassmann, ReinerSommer, RolfAmonette, James E.Falcucci, AlessandraHerrero, MarioOpio, CarolynRoman-Cuesta, Rosa MariaStehfest, ElkeWesthoek, HenkOrtiz-Monasterio, IvanSapkota, TekRufino, Mariana C.Thornton, Philip K.Verchot, LouisWest, Paul C.Soussana, Jean FrançoisBaedeker, TobiasSadler, MarcVermeulen, SonjaCampbell, Bruce M.2025-05-302025-05-301354-1013PubMed:27185416ORCID:/0000-0002-6631-7188/work/162945840http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84979970693&partnerID=8YFLogxKhttps://hdl.handle.net/1885/733754815More than 100 countries pledged to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the 2015 Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Yet technical information about how much mitigation is needed in the sector vs. how much is feasible remains poor. We identify a preliminary global target for reducing emissions from agriculture of ~1 GtCO2e yr−1 by 2030 to limit warming in 2100 to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels. Yet plausible agricultural development pathways with mitigation cobenefits deliver only 21–40% of needed mitigation. The target indicates that more transformative technical and policy options will be needed, such as methane inhibitors and finance for new practices. A more comprehensive target for the 2 °C limit should be developed to include soil carbon and agriculture-related mitigation options. Excluding agricultural emissions from mitigation targets and plans will increase the cost of mitigation in other sectors or reduce the feasibility of meeting the 2 °C limit.Data are presented in the Supporting Information and available from authors upon request. Thank you to Julianna White, Tapan Adhya, William Hohenstein, Tim Searchinger, Kitty Cardwell, Elise Golan, and several anonymous reviewers for their comments and contributions. This work was undertaken as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), which is a strategic partnership of CGIAR and Future Earth. This research was carried out with funding by the European Union (EU) and technical support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The views expressed in the document cannot be taken to reflect the official opinions of CGIAR, Future Earth, or donors.6enPublisher Copyright: © 2016 The Authors Global Change Biology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.agricultureclimate changeintegrated assessment modelingmitigationpolicytargetUnited Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change2016-12-0110.1111/gcb.1334084979970693