Christiana Figueres: “IICA offers an inspiring model for the adaptation of agriculture to climate change”

San Jose, Costa Rica. October 30, 2013 (IICA). The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Christiana Figueres, believes that, with the support of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the collaboration model it promotes, Latin America and the Caribbean could become a leader in food security and in the adaptation of agriculture to climate change.

“IICA offers an inspiring model for collaboration that is needed across the globe. Were Latin America and the Caribbean to adopt it, the region would become a leader in global development and food security in a changing climate,” Figueres suggests in a video in which she outlines the state of the international negotiations on agriculture and climate change in the run up to the next Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 19), which will be taking place in Warsaw, Poland, from November 11-22.

Figueres sent the video to IICA, which is supporting the efforts of several countries in the Americas to design and implement strategies for adapting their agricultural sectors to climate change and guarantee the food security of their inhabitants.

The Institute is currently preparing a technical note analyzing the arguments put forward by its member countries in the negotiations aimed at creating a working group on the agriculture sector under the UNFCCC.

According to the Executive Secretary of the Framework Convention, while agriculture accounts for more than 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions, it could also offer solutions to the effects of climate change by disseminating more sustainable practices that combine higher yields with lower emissions.

Figueres urged the Latin American and Caribbean countries to contribute the lessons they have learned about adaptation to the Conference of the Parties. “I would encourage them to bring to the COP 19 their best inputs, their experience with collaboration, and their spirit of cooperation to move the global agenda forward,” she remarked.

She also highlighted the opportunity that the region will have to position itself with respect to these issues after Warsaw, as next year’s Conference of the Parties is to be held in Lima, Peru.

IICA is already working to create a platform for dialogue to enable the delegations from the Americas to be better prepared for that meeting.

Video spanish only

For further information: 
david.williams@iica.int