Copenhagen, December 14, 2009 – A wide cross section of farmers, researchers and development experts spoke with one voice today at a side event held in conjunction with the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP-15), calling for immediate action to confront food security, rural poverty, forest destruction and the threat of climate change under a more comprehensive climate deal than any contemplated so far.

The messages brought together outcomes from three separate but closely related events held in the days prior: Agriculture and Rural Development Day, Forest Day Three and the FAO Climate Change and Food Security side event. Bringing these events together represented taking the discussion to a landscape level that overcomes traditional sectoral approaches and thinking.

“Many of the conflicts we see between agricultural productivity and forest conservation are largely the result of market and governance failures,” said Francis Seymour, director general, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). “We need to correct these in such a way as to achieve more optimal outcomes for society.”

Referring to the group’s joint message as a “rich distillation of the separate events,” Rodney Cooke, director of the Technical Advisory Division, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), said “food security and poverty reduction will be more difficult in the face of climate change.” He urged assuring significant financing and political will for adaptation for agriculture and land use more broadly and emphasized the importance of community leadership, particularly of rural women, and a people-centered, bottom-up approach to adaptation solutions.

Alexander Muller, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), remarking that land management should be addressed as a whole, underscored the need for financial resources and an international architecture to support the institution building, capacity building and knowledge management needed to meet the threats climate change presents to global food security.

In summarizing key messages to the climate negotiators, M.S. Swaminathan, president of the M.S. Swaminathan Foundation, advised them to “defend the gains already made in fighting climate change, extend the gains through new investments and create new gains through greater social inclusion and access to technology.”

The statement of common outcomes from these events is attached below.

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Joint Statement

Beyond Copenhagen: Agriculture and Forestry Are Part of the Solution

14 December 2009

Forestry and agriculture are where poverty reduction, food security and climate change come together and must be addressed in an integrated fashion was the key message to negotiators from agriculture and forestry communities^[1] at Cop 15, today.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and sequestering carbon from agriculture and forests must be an essential component of any strategy to keep global warming below the 2 degree Celsius threshold. Climate adaptation and mitigation measures must have multiple sustainable development benefits, including conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

The communities:

·         Agree it is critical that food security be integrated in the shared vision of the Long Term Cooperative Action text, in order to open the door to adaptation and mitigation support;

·         Urge climate negotiators to agree on the early establishment of an agricultural work program under the SBSTA[2];

·         Look for agreement that REDD[3] include agriculture, forestry and other land uses;

·         Believe that the LULUCF[4] accounting system needs to be favorable to agriculture.

The agricultural community is committed to playing an active role in reducing emissions, while increasing the productivity and sustainability of agriculture. We recognize that agriculture must nearly double food production to meet the demands of a growing population expected to reach 9 billion by mid-century while minimizing the sector’s emissions.

The forestry community is committed to helping to design and implement new mechanisms to mobilize forests for climate mitigation and adaptation, while exploiting synergies with sustainable development objectives and managing associated risks. We recognize the significance of forest-based emissions and the cost-effectiveness of early action to reduce them. The most important drivers of deforestation originate from outside the forestry sector, including agriculture. There are also significant opportunities to correct current market and governance failures that lead to perverse outcomes for climate change and food security. Forest and agriculture based adaptation strategies are available, but not yet fully appreciated by policy-makers and the general public.

Significant financial resources and political will are needed to better address food security, slow deforestation and forest degradation, and reach emission reduction targets. Investments must be transparent and additional to support for global food security and rural development. These resources must be accessible to all stakeholders, including researchers, civil society and especially forest communities, farmers and their associations. Resources must also be devoted to the research necessary to underpin needed advances in the effectiveness, efficiency, and equity of agriculture and forestry-based approaches to mitigation and adaptation.

Policy processes need to be empowering and adaptive to respond to realities on the ground, the desires and aspirations of local communities, and ensure good governance. In particular, the role of local institutions in sustainable natural resources management should be given increased recognition, and the rights and roles of indigenous and local and farming communities especially women and young farmers must be recognized in developing national mitigation and adaptation strategies.

We commit to strengthening cross-sectoral cooperation to address the drivers of deforestation, enhance sustainable agricultural growth and foster rural development. We recognize that addressing climate change is fundamental to food security and poverty reduction today and for future generations.