The Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) circulated a "technical note" urging greater priority for agriculture in the global climate talks, with a work program and working group to examine both mitigation and adaptation aspects, but with priority on the latter.
20 November 2012: The Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Victor Villalobos, circulated a “technical note” to Agriculture Ministers throughout the Americas regarding the place of agriculture in the climate change negotiations during the 18th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP 18) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The note urges the Ministers to push their COP delegations to attach greater importance to including agriculture in the negotiations and to create a work program on the issue, both with respect to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the establishment of climate adaptation mechanisms for agriculture.
The IICA document notes “points of convergence” regarding a possible UNFCCC work program and working group on agriculture and climate change, including: both mitigation and adaptation should be addressed, as well as the synergies between the two, but prioritizing adaptation; the importance of food security and small farmers should be recognized; financial support is needed to mobilize mitigation/adaptation investment in agriculture; and financial support for adaptation efforts in the least developed countries (LDCs) should be prioritized.
The document also points out points of entry during the talks for agriculture to be raised, including work on the Adaptation Framework, discussions about the drivers of deforestation to be addressed under REDD+, and discussions in the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol regarding land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF). [IICA Press Release] [IICA Technical Note 8-12: Agriculture in the Climate Change Negotiations]