UN
Climate Change
Global
Climate Action
8
March
2021 | |
Driving Agriculture from Breakdown to
Breakthrough | |
Agriculture
can inherently help stem the climate crisis,
with plants capturing and storing carbon
dioxide. Yet food, agriculture and land use
currently contribute to a quarter of global CO2
emissions, and [degrade?] the natural systems
that supply the oxygen we breathe and food we
eat to the “verge of breakdown”, according to
the Dasgupta
Review on the economics of biodiversity.
But
we can choose the path to a safer and more
livable future - if we choose to regenerate our
relationship with nature and create
nature-positive economies by 2030. To get there,
we must accelerate the transformation of
agriculture from a net source of CO2 emissions
to a net sink. The benefits of this will
ricochet across global efforts to meet the UN’s
17 Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, such
as eradicating poverty and hunger and creating
jobs, according to the Stockholm Resilience
Centre.
The
most straightforward and cost-effective way to
do this is to preserve, protect and restore
natural environments where possible - keeping
terrestrial natural carbon stocks intact - and
to farm and graze in harmony with nature,
without encroaching on natural areas. That has
to happen as the population grows and incomes
rise, pushing food demand up by an expected 50
percent, according to the World
Resources Institute.
| |
The Leaders Breaking
Ground | |
Including
goals for indirect supply chain emissions will
multiply the impacts of this work. Sustainable
agricultural practices, the end of deforestation
for agriculture and the addition of carbon sinks
can deliver greater profits for farmers and
drive the shift to net-zero supply chains
without significantly increasing costs. The
Forest
and Agriculture Commodity Trade
Dialogue,
a multi-stakeholder consultation in
collaboration with the COP 26 Presidency , is
also exploring synergies that would allow
companies interested or committed to
deforestation-free supply chains to advance
their decarbonization by joining the Race to
Zero.
Commitments
from farmers will drive this transformation
further,
and ensure they’re not left behind in the
transition.
The UK’s National
Farmers Union
aims to reach net zero emissions by 2040, while
the US Farmers & Ranchers In Action
estimates that the country’s food and
agriculture sector can become carbon-negative as
early as 2035. The World
Farmers Organization
is empowering farmers to lead in the political
process by sharing their science-based,
results-focused solutions for mitigating
emissions and adapting to climate change impacts
they’re already feeling, like droughts and
floods. Smallholders in particular must be
involved, as they often face the worst impacts
while producing the food most of us
consume.
Change
from policymakers and financiers will help
accelerate the transition. Governments can
create a conducive business and regulatory
environment, for example by exposing the hidden
costs of extractive agriculture and redirecting
US$600 billion per year in subsidies towards
supporting work such as the Just
Rural Transition
initiative. Investors and capital markets can
multiply their finance for climate-positive
agriculture by 10 and create financial
mechanisms for the food and agriculture
transition.
| |
Across the four regions, stakeholders
pointed to the importance of efficiently
engaging all actors in climate action - and
especially youth and women; on the need for
citizen- and community-led efforts to change
behaviours in favour of more sustainable
production and consumption; and on the
importance of using nature-based solutions and
“bringing Earth back into the
equation”. | |
- The Powering
Past Coal Alliance welcomed 10 new members
at its summit this week, including Hungary,
Kyoto City and California Public Employees'
Retirement System.
- Shipping
giant AP
Maersk will launch the world’s first
carbon-neutral liner vessel in 2023 - seven
years earlier than initially planned, thanks to
technological advances and growing customer
demand. That’s exponential growth in
action!
- The
Sustainable Shipping
Initiative
has outlined 13 sustainability issues and
principles to be taken into account to ensure
the industry is investing in, buying and using
sustainable marine fuels.
| |
- Zero
Carbon City International Forum, 17-18
March: Organized by the Japanese Ministry of the
Environment, in collaboration with UN Climate
Change, ICLEI-Local Governments for
Sustainability and the Institute for Global
Environmental Strategies.
- FT’s
Climate Capital Live Summit, 30 March:
Hosted in partnership with the UN High Level
Climate Action Champions, this online event will
gather leading global names in policy, finance
and industry for a critical deliberation on what
a successful race to net-zero means for all
sectors and
nations.
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