23 November 2015: The Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) Research Program of the CGIAR Consortium has released an information note on the role of agriculture in the intended nationally-determined contributions (INDCs) submitted by Parties ahead of the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the UNFCCC. The authors show that the majority of Parties prioritize mitigation and adaptation in agriculture resulting in high demand for technical assistance and finance for the agricultural sector.

Based on data from 133 submissions representing INDCs of 160 Parties, the note shows that 80% of Parties have included agriculture in mitigation targets or actions, with 30% noting that such actions are conditional on financial support. In addition, 64% of Parties note the importance of adaptation in agriculture, while 44 Parties note the importance of mitigation-adaptation co-benefits. Furthermore, the analysis shows that most non-Annex Parties will require finance to achieve their targets with some outlining the expected costs of actions such as reducing slash and burn agriculture or achieving sustainable rice cultivation.

The authors conclude that agriculture and land use seem to be key strategies for mitigation and adaptation, in particular in non-Annex 1 Parties, noting that finance should therefore be included as a key sector for climate finance. [Publication: Info Note: Agriculture’s Prominence in the INDCs – Analysis of agriculture in countries’ climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies] [CCAFS Press Release]