1 December 2015: A half-day event on agriculture took place under the Lima-Paris Action Agenda (LPAA) and as part of the Paris Climate Change Conference, presenting six cooperative initiatives to drive the growth of climate-resilient, productive and low-emissions agriculture. As the UNFCCC notes, agriculture is one of the sectors most seriously affected by extreme climate, but it also accounts for 24% of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that cause climate change.

The initiatives aim to help farmers in both developed and developing countries become key actors in achieving a low-carbon, climate-resilient future. The initiatives are: the 4/1000 Initiative: soils for food security and climate; the Life Beef Carbon initiative; the Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme; the Promotion of Agro-ecology Transition in West Africa; the Blue Growth Initiative; and the Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction – Save Food.

The 4/1000 Initiative on soils for food security and climate, launched by 100 partners including developed and developing countries, international organizations, private foundations, NGOs and farmer organizations, aims to protect and increase carbon stocks in soils through appropriate soil management. Life Beef Carbon unites farmers from France, Ireland, Italy and Spain, and aims to reduce the beef carbon footprint by 15% over ten years. In the Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) with partners commit to investing climate finance in poor smallholder farmers in developing countries to generate multiple benefits.

Led by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Promotion of Agro-ecology Transition in West Africa aims to promote the adoption of agro-ecological practices by 25 million households by 2025. Blue Growth is a multi-partner initiative led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) that supports climate resilience, food security, poverty alleviation and sustainable management of living aquatic resources in coastal communities, especially in small island developing States (SIDS). Finally, Save Food is a partnership led by FAO, which unites more than 500 companies and organizations from industry and civil society active in food loss and waste reduction.

The event was organized by France and FAO. In his statement, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva argued that hunger and climate change must be tackled “hand in hand.” He noted that many global problems are intertwined, including climate change, water scarcity, energy shortages, global health, women’s empowerment and food security, and that “solutions to one problem must be solutions for all.”

The LPAA is a joint undertaking of the Peruvian and French Presidencies of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC, the Office of the UN Secretary-General and the UNFCCC Secretariat. The LPAA aims to strengthen climate action through mobilizing robust global action towards low-carbon and resilient societies; providing enhanced support to existing initiatives; and mobilizing new partners and providing a platform for the visibility of their actions, commitments and results. [UNFCCC Press Release] [FAO Press Release] [LPAA Focus Area on Agriculture] [IISD RS Coverage of COP 21] [UN Press Release]