Agriculture Advantage event series @ the COP24

2-14 December 2019. Katowice, Poland. COP24 is the informal name for the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

At COP23 in Bonn, the Agriculture Advantage event series was initiated by likeminded
organizations, which brought together over 400 diverse stakeholders to put forward a vision and action agenda for transforming agriculture under climate change. In its second year at COP24, the series will focus on implementing the action agenda and realizing the vision for transformation.

The event series will link multiple side events held during the 2 weeks of COP24 into a single theme, “Agriculture Advantage 2.0: Transforming food systems under a changing climate”, with the effect of a day-long conference, spread out over multiple days. The aim of the event series will be to step up actions to drive a transformation within global food systems that will help to achieve food security, adaptation to climate change, and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from the sector.

Objectives

• Showcase opportunities and emerging examples of transformative actions in food systems in response to climate change.
• Create a collective case for investment in transformative climate actions in agriculture.
• Chart a path for bringing expanded partnerships to scale up transformative climate actions in agriculture.
• Inform the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture under the UNFCCC.

Extracts of the programme

Speech by the president of Nigeria

Africa @the COP24

Africa Today on climate change summit/COP24

Programme:

3 December 2019. Africa Day, a joint initiative of the African Development Bank (AFDB), African Union Commission UN Economic Commission for Africa and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), was organized, this year, around the theme, "The Africa Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Hub: Going further and faster with NDC implementation in support of Agenda 2063."

• Four Pan-African institutions along with the Kingdom of Lesotho and the Republic of Gabon. The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) and the African Risk Capacity (ARC) co-organized the day.
• Africa Day 2018 focused on how to ensure that all development partners deepen their partnerships and commitments to deliver concrete actions and resources for African countries to deliver their NDC targets and enable the imlpementation of the Paris Agreement.
• Highlights of the event included a high-level statement by Gabon’s Minister of Foreign affairs, Regis Immongault, on behalf of President Ali Bongo Ondimba, Coordinator of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC).
  
  Josefa Sacko, African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture represented the chair Person of the African Union commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat.
• A high level Ministerial panel and a Parliamentary dialogue provided a platform for detailed discussions on this year’s theme and Africa’s position at COP24. The last segment of the Africa Day was an expert panel discussion from various technical institutions on the theme of the day.

“Countries in Africa continue to suffer from the adverse impacts of climate change with the costs of climate change threatening the realization of the aspirations of Agenda 2063 the Africa we want. Climate change is also partially to blame for increased migration of African youths to Europe through the deadly Mediterranean Sea due to shrinking livelihood opportunities. There is a link between climate change and conflicts in Africa as demonstrated by the Boko Haram’ insurgency in Western and Central Africa partly as a result of the shrinking of Lake Chad.” Josefa Sacko Africa Union Commissioner Sacko 

“As Parliamentarians we carry the hopes, aspirations and concerns of the peoples of Africa. The Africa Day accords us an opportunty to emphasize the need for parties to adopt concrete actions towards effective and adequate implementation of the Paris Agreement, especially in the context of the African Climate Legislation Initiative (ACLI),” Kone Dognon, Chairperson of the Pan-African Parliament Committee for Rural Economy, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment.

“African countries require significant resources to meet their commitments to the Paris Agreement.. The Africa NDC Hub hosted at the African Development Bank, represents a concerted effort by development partner institutions to leverage each other’s comparative advantage in mobilizing resources necessary for Africa to embark on a low-carbon and climate-resilient development pathway.” Anthony Nyong, Director of Climate Change and Green Growth, representing the President of the African Development Bank Group

4 December 2019.  Transforming food systems under a changing climate: From priorities to action
Related publications:

• Briefing: A 6-part action plan to transform food systems under climate change, available in 2 formats: Exposure story with animated graphics | downloadable Info Note
• Koronivia submission: Submission from the CGIAR System Organization, International Centre for Tropical Agriculture and the World Bank, in response to Decision 4/CP.23
• Journal article: Transformation in Practice: A Review of Empirical Cases of Transformational Adaptation in Agriculture Under Climate Change
• Global Commission on Adaptation report: Feeding the World in a Changing Climate: An Adaptation Roadmap for Agriculture

5 December 2019.  Policy advantage: Enablers for food systems transformation
Related publications: CCAFS briefing: A 6-part action plan to transform food systems under climate change, available in 2 formats: Exposure story with animated graphics | downloadable Info Note
5 December 2019. CSA investment advantage: Climate-smart agriculture - identifying the best bets

Related publication: 

• CIAT, CCAFS and World Bank report launched at the event: Bringing the concept of climate-smart agriculture to life

6 December 2019. Technology advantage: Next generation technologies to tackle climate challenges
in agriculture
Related publications:

• CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas journal article: Roots, tubers and bananas: planning and research for climate resilience

10 December 2019. Food systems finance advantage: Leveraging finance to create opportunities for scaled climate action

11 December 2019. Soils advantage: Transforming agriculture by recarbonizing the Earth’s soil

Related publications:

• 4p1000 and CCAFS commentary in journal Nature: Put more carbon in soils to meet Paris pledges
• CIAT-WLE journal article: Global sequestration potential of increased organic carbon in cropland soils
• Journal article: The potential of agricultural land management to contribute to lower global surface temperatures

12 December 2019. Stepping up food systems transformation under a changing climate

Related publications:

• Koronivia submission: Submission from the CGIAR System Organization, International Centre for Tropical Agriculture and the World Bank, in response to Decision 4/CP.23
• Journal article: Transformation in Practice: A Review of Empirical Cases of Transformational Adaptation in Agriculture Under Climate Change
• Global Commission on Adaptation report: Feeding the World in a Changing Climate: An Adaptation Roadmap for Agriculture

Related:

How can the EU scale up climate action: Climate Action Tracker report

Related:

17 - 29 November 2018. Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Fourteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity 

• Durign this conference Cornell’s Alliance for Science interviewed experts on the role of agricultural biotechnology in conserving biodiversity. Dr Margaret Karembu, director of ISAAA AfriCenter Kenya, noted that agricultural biotech can increase productivity per unit of land and reduce the release of chemicals harmful to pollinators. Biotechnologist Dr Manuela Campa of Stellenbosch University in South Africa reduces food waste, making land use more efficient. Both experts noted that biodiversity is the source of genes on which biotechnological innovation depends.
• It is therefore a surprise that Tanzania’s decided not only to ban all GM crop trials but also to order the Tanzania Agriculture Research Institute (TARI) – which has been conducting field trials of GE drought- and insect-resistant maize and whitefly- and virus-resistant cassava crops – to immediately destroy all evidence of its research thus far. Dismayed Tanzanian scientists say that this represents a setback of a decade’s worth of biotech advancement in the country.