June 2009: The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has published the fifth issue of its FoodClimate E-newsletter.

The issue contains an interview with Caterina Batello, Senior Officer at FAO’s Plant Production and Protection Division, on addressing agriculture and climate change in international climate change negotiations, event announcements, reports from the field, latest news, and an update on publications, tools and websites.
In her interview, Caterina Batello explains why agriculture should be included in a future international agreement on climate change and outlines FAO activities in preparation for the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Copenhagen. She argues that agriculture should be included through measures compensating farmers for environmental services, such as increased carbon sequestration through better soil management, noting that improved grassland management practices could substantially contribute to mitigation while increasing resilience and improving livelihoods. She calls for enabling frameworks focusing on: full greenhouse gas accounting; measurements and monitoring; training and capacity building; policy measures in the environmental and agricultural sectors; and financing options.
The stories from the field report on the following FAO projects: supporting Chilean efforts in the fight against climate change; linking climate change and food security in Nicaragua; and generating knowledge to face climate change in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Latest News section describes: FAO’s partnerships with regional organizations; a workshop on national forest inventories in non-Annex I countries; the Communication for Sustainable Development Initiative, a partnership between FAO and the Italian Ministry of the Environment and Territory focusing on the challenges of climate change and food security; and a workshop on education to face climate change under a partnership with Carbonschools and the UNFCCC Secretariat. [The Newsletter]