Pavilion at COP27 to showcase sustainable agriculture of the Americas and drive effective global climate action

San Jose, 4 November 2022 (IICA) – A space for sustainable agriculture and the agrifood systems of the Americas will showcase the key role agriculture plays in driving climate solutions and global food security, while giving visibility to the contributions of producers and other sector stakeholders to climate change adaptation and mitigation.
 
The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) will set up the Home of Sustainable Agriculture in the Americas pavilion at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) scheduled to take place in Egypt from November 6-18.
 
Held at the Convention Center in Sharm-El-Sheikh, the epicenter of the global climate summit, under the slogan “Feeding the World, Nurturing the Planet”, the space will host 60 high-level events including roundtables, launches and bilateral meetings.
 
The different hybrid dialogues (in-person and virtual) will touch on topics like climate resilience, food and nutrition security, soil health, climate-smart production systems, nature-based solutions, sustainable livestock, climate-smart dairy production, the role of women and youth in climate-resilient agriculture, biofuels, technology and productivity, among others.
 
“We will take a self-critical view in our discussion of all topics, knowing that agrifood systems can always be improved, but are never failed systems”, stated Manuel Otero, Director General of IICA.
 
The Home of Sustainable Agriculture in the Americas will also serve as a networking space for top agricultural stakeholders who will visit the site during COP27, including ministers and secretaries of agriculture, representatives of the private sector and academia, producers, climate change specialists and other public and private sector leaders, who will dive deeper into the current state of climate governance and related opportunities.
 
The pavilion will also house a photo exhibit on the face of agriculture and climate change in the Americas as well as offer a virtual reality tour on sustainable agriculture together with robust figures and data of the sector’s support of climate action.
 
“The pavilion will showcase agriculture in action as a solution to global challenges. There will be talks and presentations by people directly involved in soil health, carbon neutral agriculture and the best technologies and innovations to produce more with less”, expressed Lloyd Day, IICA’s Deputy Director General.
 
“Agriculture is made to look like the villain, when in reality it is contributing to caring for our planet, soils and water”, he added, referring to how the space will help raise awareness.

This will also be the stage for the launch of the publication “Sustainable Agriculture Milestones in the Americas”, a seven-chapter, scientifically accurate and easy-to-read compilation of relevant experiences in the region in combating climate change and caring for the environment and natural resources.
 
“It poses the importance of direct seeding for agriculture; agrosilvopastoral systems in subtropical zones; management of natural grasslands; sustainable rice intensification in countries of the Andean region and Central America; progress in waste reduction in strategic chains for Mesoamerica, such as coffee; and advances in agriculture in the Caribbean, which demonstrate that we are undergoing an irreversible change toward sustainable agriculture”, summarized Otero, leader of the hemispheric organization specialized in agriculture and rurality.
 
The Home of Sustainable Agriculture in the Americas is representative of the commitment made by IICA, its member countries and international partners to show how American agriculture is resilient to climate change and can be a concrete example for agrifood systems around the world of climate change mitigation and adaptation.
 
This initiative has 26 strategic partners from different sectors, including the productive sector, such as the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and Protein Pact; key IICA allies from the private sector in the Living Soils of the Americas initiative, including Bayer, Syngenta and Pepsico; and crop science organizations, like CropLife International, among others.
 
“Climate change is a challenge for us all and involves all agricultural stakeholders and sectors. The climate crisis will not be solved with a meeting, it does not end with COP27, but rather requires that everyone take action. That is why from the American agriculture sector, we commit to contributing to the right direction and to showcasing the contributions of agriculture to climate change solutions; that is why we will have the pavilion”, concluded Federico Villarreal, Director of Technical Cooperation at IICA.More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int