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Abstract
Agriculture makes a significant contribution to Norway’s emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). Although the
sector accounts for only 0.3 per cent of GDP, it accounts for roughly 9 per cent of total GHG emissions.
Norwegian agriculture is dominated by livestock production; ruminants (cattle and sheep) are particularly
important. There are opportunities for GHG mitigation under existing technology through changes in
agricultural practices. Analytically we derive abatement cost curves for Norway in terms of the change in
economic welfare, and on a theoretical basis we examine the impact of various policy objectives on the
abatement cost curve. In particular we consider the policy objective of keeping the production of calories at the
current level. We use a detailed economic model to assess the impact and welfare implication of a reduction in
GHG emissions.