06
Jun

AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SAFETY: CONCRETENESS AS OBJECTIVE BY 2025

  • COP27 saw a renewed commitment to the topic of agriculture, which resulted in the decision 3/CP.27
  • The objective is to translate this negotiating text into concrete actions, an objective to be achieved by the end of 2025

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh saw a renewed commitment to address the climate crisis with respect to its impact on global agricultural systems and food security. World leaders, agricultural business representatives and civil society organizations have come together to discuss concrete solutions and strengthen international collaboration in this crucial sector.

Climate change poses a significant threat to agriculture and food security globally. Rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, floods and other extreme weather events are already challenging food production and farmers’ livelihoods, with particularly severe consequences for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable regions.

An important outcome of COP27 was the adoption of the Sharm el-Sheikh Agreements on Agriculture and Food Security (through Decision 3/CP.27). These agreements represent a commitment by governments, companies and organizations to work together to increase the resilience of agricultural systems to climate change and to ensure food security for all. The agreements include a number of actions, including:

  • mobilize investments in sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture;
  • develop new training and technical assistance programs for farmers;
  • strengthen information and early warning systems on climate risks;
  • promote international trade in sustainable agricultural products.

If the Sharm el-Sheikh Agreements represent an important step forward for global food security, it is nevertheless essential that these commitments translate into concrete actions and real investments. Collaboration at all levels – from governments to farms to local communities – will be key to building a more resilient and food-secure future for all.

For this reason, Sharm el-Sheikh’s four-year joint work is being discussed at this year’s interim negotiations.

In order to implement it, several avenues have been proposed, including developing an Action Plan, channeling existing climate finance to support small producers and providing recommendations for national policies, including Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and food policies, all topics taken up again the following year in Dubai – we told you about them in this article.

A significant step towards the definition of a concrete action plan was taken in Bonn during the evening between Tuesday and Wednesday, when the European Union and the United States distributed two draft Action Plans among the nations. The proposal of the G77 was added to these on Wednesday, representing a common position among all the states of the group, which integrates the contents of paragraphs 14 and 15b of 3/CP.27.

The Action Plans developed also address the organization of workshops to be held during the next two SB (Subsidiary Bodies). The United States Action Plan stands out for its conciseness, while that of the EU is more in-depth, analyzing all the key points of 3/CP.27. The common goal is to move quickly and approve a text by the end of the intermediate negotiations.

Some debates have arisen between the G77 and the United States regarding the workshops to be organized during the upcoming negotiations. To resolve the situation, it was hypothesized to initiate the workshops starting from COP29. Furthermore, the secretariat was requested to create the online portal dedicated to the sharing of actions and ideas by States, as decided in 3/CP.27.

The ultimate objective of Wednesday’s meeting is to give the secretariat the mandate to draft a single text, which integrates the three presented, with maximum speed. The consolidated text should be approved by the end of next week.

An unexpected obstacle arose from the fact that the G77 did not present its proposal the night before, like the others, but only made it available at the last minute, during the session. This prevented the parties from dedicating the necessary time to reading it. For this reason, 15 minutes before the end of the session, the European Union requested five additional minutes to review the document. As later admitted, the request was motivated by the presence of a word in brackets in the text, “mechanism”, a term that had already raised doubts among many countries during COP28 in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Despite the temporary difficulties, the hope of many is that the Secretariat will present a simple text by Friday, capable of finding consensus among all parties.

Article by Anna Pelicci, Italian Climate Network Volunteer

Cover image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/unfccc/

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