On the road to COP28, the countries of the Americas are increasing the implementation of measures to mitigate and adapt agriculture to climate change, say specialists at IICA forum

San José, 29 March 2023 (IICA) – Sustainable agriculture is increasingly being seen as part of the solution to the challenges of climate change and as a fundamental element in transforming the agrifood sector, which is reflected in an increase in climate actions and measures in the countries of the Americas, according to specialists who met at an online forum hosted by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

The meeting is part of the activities organized by IICA, the Executive Secretariat of the Central American Agricultural Council (SE-CAC) and the Global Innovation Center of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for the countries of the Americas to analyze and establish their positions for the next Conference of the Parties (COP28), to be held at the end of this year in Dubai.

Since the Koronivia agreements in 2011, more attention has been focused on agriculture to address climate change and guarantee food security, said Walter Oyhantcabal, IICA consultant on Climate Action and Agricultural Sustainability.

On the progress of climate talks and their impact on agriculture, Oyhantcabal said that several countries in the region have already sent to the UNFCCC Secretariat their positions on how to put into practice the agreements of COP27, held last year in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt.

“Agriculture is part of the solution. We are living in a time of incredible innovation in the sector and this will undoubtedly have an impact on the climate and on the way we do things,” said IICA Deputy Director General

Lloyd Day.

UNFCCC Global Innovation Center project manager Carlos Ruiz Garvia stressed the IICA’s contribution to COP27 through the Home of Sustainable Agriculture of the Americas, the pavilion that the Institute installed at the summit in Egypt, for agriculture and environment authorities of the countries of the Americas and international specialists to discuss the progress in sustainability in many nations in the hemisphere, and the challenges ahead.

As a result of the talks, Garvia reported that the UNFCCC is working on a climate technology center with agriculture as one of the main focus points. It is also seeking to ensure that the first Global Stocktake reflects not only current mitigation and adaptation work, but also the recommendations to continue beyond COP28.

In the virtual forum, Ricardo Montero, regional technical coordinator of the Executive Secretariat of the Central American Agricultural Council (SE-CAC), also singled out IICA as an innovative organization that, even with the broad diversity of agriculture in the Americas, coordinated the participation of the agriculture sector of the countries of the region at COP27 and set an example to the world, work that will no doubt be repeated with more emphasis at COP28.

“Agriculture plays a fundamental role in reducing greenhouse gases and in mitigation for crop management, sustainable livestock, agroforestry and reduction of food loss. The agriculture sector must take these powers to meet the goals that the countries set,” Montero added.

IICA Technical Cooperation Director Federico Villarreal reiterated the potential of agriculture as part of the solution to climate change and to guarantee food security, a position the Institute will focus on at COP28. “The voices of agriculture must find a place where they can be heard,” he commented.

More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int