COP 17 Conference-Views from a GFAR-supported participant

COP 17 Conference Participation Report

By T. Mamo, Member, CCAFS Commission on Climate Change and Sustainable Agriculture

 

This is a short report submitted to the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) concerning my participation in COP 17 Conference between 1-7 December 2011. In addition, I have also attended a one day workshop each on Agriculture and Rural Development Day (Dec, 3) and Forest Day 5 (Dec, 4). During the COP 17 meeting elegates worked late than initially scheduled to broker a deal that renewed the Kyoto Protocol and set into motion a Durban Roadmap. The Durban Roadmap for the first time in the history of the UNFCCC set up a process to negotiate a comprehensive and balanced legal instrument to avert climate change; the legal instrument which would come into force by 2020. On the other hand, the outcome from Durban do not go far enough to hold global temperatures at a two-degree warmer world, nor is there sufficient finance or appropriate mechanisms in place to tackle the major adaptation challenges faced by least developed countries,

 

Several high level meetings and side events were organized; of these I have attended the high level meetings on Climate finance, Climate Change and Gender, and Climate Smart Agriculture. On December 2, at a side event hosted by the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAD) on “Climate-Smart Agriculture – a transformative approach to food security, adaptation and mitigation,” I was a panel member and talked about the challenges farmers encounter in taking up agro-ecological approaches. Despite widespread recognition that these approaches are key to building climate resilience, practices such as soil-building through organic material residues can be hard to implement when these materials are needed also for fuel and fodder. In addition, I mentioned about useful agricultural practices that farmers implement such as composting and agro-forestry that ultimately reduce farmers' reliance on chemical fertilizers and help mitigate green house gas emission.  As pointed out by the Commission, I also emphasized that one-size-fits-all solutions are not the answer given the specific needs and lifestyles of farmers, households and communities. To achieve feasible, integrated solutions, the critical elements are knowledge sharing, institutional support, and gender-focused extension services that interact with empowered farmers organizations. On December 5, I also shared these and additional experiences (including the need for immediate action by all to finance adaptation mechanisms by small holder farmers) and the Commission’s findings as a panelist at a side event at the Africa Pavilion.

 

On December 3, I attended the Agriculture and Rural Development Day (ARDD), in which Commission Chair Sir John Beddington shared the Commission’s seven recommendations through a keynote note address on “What does the science say? Mobilising sustainable agriculture to meet food security challenges”.  Noting that many projections focus on 2050, Sir John said that he is more worried about 2025 when global population is likely to reach 8 billion as well as “three lost decades in agricultural research” and the growing recognition that declining food prices are starting to reverse course.  Given that the planet has finite supplies of land and water, Sir John urged the world to prepare for inevitable shocks in the climate and economic systems. In addition to joining the call for a SBSTA work programme on adaptation and mitigation in agriculture, Sir John spoke about the importance of financing ‘early action’ towards resilience and mitigation in agricultural production systems.  He said that we must look to leaders in other global processes including the G-20 and the Rio+20 Earth Summit to take concrete steps toward ensuring a ‘safe space’ for the world’s food and climate systems. In the afternoon plenary sessions at ARDD, the Commission’s recommendations were referenced as critical steps forward by several speakers including Caroline Spelman (UK Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), Mary Robinson (former President of Ireland) and Tiina Joemat-Pettersson (South African Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries).

 

At the Forest Day event in Durban on December 4, I attended the session in which Commission member Prof Bob Scholes delivered a  his keynote address and outlined the scientific case for why forests matter for addressing climate change and sustainable development, emphasizing that forests represent up to one-quarter of the emissions reduction solution.  While maintaining core functioning of intact rainforests is critical, he pointed out that dramatic transformations are occurring in dry forests such as the Miombo woodlands in Africa and the cerrado in Latin America.  While these forests have only about half the carbon density of rainforests, they cover twice as much area and they are more easily converted into agricultural use.  In the Miombo region, conversion tends to begin with removal of high value trees, followed by charcoal production, then low-input, low-output agriculture, culminating in shrubby, low-value land. Prof Scholes stated that fully restricting forest conversion is untenable in places like African dry forests because of the need for improved livelihoods of rapidly growing populations. He pointed to the opportunity to “leapfrog” past the cycle of degradation by ensuring that landscapes are functionally intact through intelligent transformation and sustainable intensification of agriculture. Prof Scholes cautioned, “We can’t kid ourselves about the challenges involved, but it is a cause that it is worth the effort.” Asked at the press conference to provide an example of sustainable intensification, Prof Scholes described the potential for significantly increasing maize yields from the current average of 0.5 tonnes per hectare in the Miombo dry forest region (which cover 2.4 million km² in Southern Africa) to 5 tonnes per hectare if measures are taken to ensure sustainable production.

 

During the rest of the time, I had fruitful discussions with developing countries delegates, members of the African and Asian civil societies and individual experts. I had also had the opportunity to meet with professionals and officers of various CGIAR centers; among these, my fruitful di8scussion with Dr Denis Garrity from ICRAF has opened the way for a embarking upon a joint work on agro-forestry that will help adapt to climate change and also mitigate green house gas emission.

 

In general, the Durban Conference was very useful and I thank the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) for co-sponsoring my participation in ARDD3, FD5, and  COP 17th meetings in co-that took place in Durban.