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Eva Kjer Hansen, Minister of Food Agriculture and Fisheries, Denmark, stressed that there can be no food security without climate security, and that the agricultural sector is part of the solution to climate change mitigation and adaptation. She highlighted the importance of free trade and of investing in technologies ranging from organic to genetically modified crops.
Tom Vilsack, US Secretary of Agriculture, stressed the US’ attention to rural farmers and their role in addressing food security and climate change. He stated that: supporting smallholders requires a commitment to technology; mitigating climate change requires renewable energy development without compromising food security; and including agriculture in conversations on offsets, as the US Congress will do, is critical.
Gilberto Câmara, Director, Brazilian National Institute of Space Research (INPE), said climate change will most affect food security in tropical countries, but that others, including the US, will be affected. He said temperature increases of more than 2°C will devastate agriculture in Brazil. Câmara stressed the importance of data collection and analysis to extract regional scenarios from mega scenarios in order to inform appropriate policy that enables food security and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Ajay Vashee, Director, International Federation of Agricultural Producers, highlighted the challenges farmers face in doubling food production by 2050, contributing to environmentally friendly food and fuel production, and alleviating poverty. He said bioenergy can diversify risks and increase income while reducing GHG emissions. He stressed the need to include specific mention of food security and agriculture in climate change negotiating texts and to include rewards for farmers’ carbon sequestration activities in accounting rules.
Jacques Diouf, FAO Director-General, lamented that agriculture has been excluded from climate change financing mechanisms even though the agricultural sector can help vulnerable countries respond to the dual challenges of food security and climate change. He highlighted the November 2009 World Summit on Food Security, which underscored the need to proactively address these dual challenges with particular attention to small-scale producers and vulnerable populations.
Participants debated: biochar’s inclusion in the CDM; whether contradictions exist between simultaneously promoting localized food markets and international free trade; and the role of cities in relation to food security.
During the event, Diouf and Câmara signed an FAO—INPE agreement in which they will, inter alia, cooperate in organizing and supporting a technical proposal for a national Measurement, Reporting and Verification system to report GHG emissions by sources and removals by sinks under the UNFCCC.
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L-R:
Kenneth Markowitz, International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement; Jacob Werksman; Kenneth Andrasko, World Bank; Rosalind Reeve, Global Witness; and Peter Holmgren, FAO.
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Jacob Werksman, World Resources Institute, introduced the event saying that it reflects the increased emphasis on environmental and social aspects of REDD and highlights the importance of strong institutions and civil society empowerment.
Rosalind Reeve, Global Witness, provided an overview of a report entitled “Building Confidence in REDD.” She voiced concern with the low levels of forest governance in many countries that will host REDD projects, and set out a proposal to establish minimum standards for independent monitoring that include: an agreement between the monitor and the host country; access to information; right of movement and access to field sites for monitoring missions; a right to publish findings; and a right to observe host governments’ meetings with other stakeholders.
Kenneth Andrasko, World Bank, listed a number of insights that have emerged about forest governance from the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, including the requirements that countries undertake an integrated, cross-sectoral vision of how REDD fits into a low-carbon future, and an analysis of deforestation and degradation drivers.
Peter Holmgren, FAO, discussed the role of national forest inventories as a tool for determining the specific relationships between forest trends and other social and institutional factors.
Kenneth Markowitz, International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE), stressed the foundational role of compliance and enforcement in the rule of law, good governance and sustainable development.
Participants discussed: the role of indigenous peoples in the development of REDD projects and in monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV); Australian and Tanzanian approaches to forest stewardship; and independent forest monitoring of country MRV standards. |
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L-R:
Zaheer Fakir, South Africa; Luis Gomez-Echeverri, IIASA; Cuong Pham Manh, Viet Nam; Olav Kjorven, UNDP; and Sylvie Lemmet, UNEP. |
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This event discussed various cross-UN agency capacity-building activities.
Olav Kjorven, UNDP, stressed that capacity building is at least as important as finance but receives much less attention. He highlighed that the vast majority of countries have limited capacity to address the challenges posed by climate change. Sylvie Lemmet, UNEP, agreed that capacity building is as important as finance and said she is increasingly comforted that this is being addressed in collaboration across the UN agencies. She highlighted various UN experiences that have begun to make progress in this regard, including the “UN CC:Learn” initiative.
Luis Gomez-Echeverri, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), stressed that if capacity building is not given a central role in the UNFCCC, many developing countries will be bypassed. He emphasized that the UN must work in a coordinated manner, and that capacity-building assistance must be included in existing development strategies, cannot be undertaken in isolation, and must occur at institutional, systemic and individual levels.
Cuong Pham Manh, Viet Nam, discussed his country’s experience with capacity building in the context of REDD, highlighting that the UN-REDD Programme was officially launched in Viet Nam in August 2009. He summarized various capacity-building activities being organized in Viet Nam in cooperation with FAO, UNDP and UNEP.
Zaheer Fakir, South Africa, discussed his country’s proactive approach to capacity building, stressing that capacity building must be coordinated, coherent, integrated into existing development agendas and demand-driven. He highlighted the utility of institutional-level capacity building.
Participants discussed capacity building as it relates to, inter alia: indigenous knowledge; local and city levels; projected adaptation outcomes from COP 15; and the World Bank’s “Development Marketplace.” |
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Front row L-R: Charmine Koda, IGES; Hironori Hamanaka, IGES; Shuzo Nishioka, IGES; P.R. Shukla, IIM, India; Hiroshi Ohki, JCCCA; and Koichi Hasegawa, Tokohu University
Back row L-R: Eric Zusman, IGES; Kazuhisa Koakutsu, IGES; Mikiko Kainuma, NIES; and Junichi Fujino, NIES.
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Charmine Koda, IGES, noted that Asia is home to many of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Hironori Hamanaka, IGES, said sustainable low-carbon development will require an unprecedented transformation of energy systems, social structures and lifestyles.
Mikiko Kainuma, NIES, presented examples of low-carbon scenarios from Japanese prefectures. P.R. Shukla, Indian Institute of Management, challenged participants to consider solutions beyond the “climate-centric” ones being discussed at the COP 15 negotiations. Kejun Jiang, Energy Research Institute, China, emphasized the potential for technological solutions, and encouraged global cooperation in making these accessible. Junichi Fujino, IGES, detailed actions to achieve a low-carbon energy future.
On opportunities and challenges in Asia, Eric Zusman, IGES, outlined key messages from IGES stakeholder consultations in Asia on a future climate change regime, including the importance of local-level models and considering distributional impacts. Describing IGES’ CDM project database, Kazuhisa Koakutsu, IGES, noted that 85% of registered CDM projects in 2009 were from Asia. Hiroshi Ohki, JCCCA, encouraged sustainable business practices, renewable energy development and technology transfer.
Koichi Hasegawa, Tokohu University, described the “Isson Ippin, One Village, One Action, Campaign,” a national competition for local climate change actions in Japan. He encouraged competitions that would promote joy, confidence and pride in local actions. Shuzo Nishioka, IGES, outlined the Low Carbon Societies Research Network (LCS-RNet), explaining that it is a network of climate change researchers and institutes that provides scientific information to policy makers.
Participants discussed, inter alia: the possibility of achieving a carbon-free society; technological versus market-driven solutions; and energy demand in growing economies. |
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This event discussed implementation of REDD and REDD+. Fred Boltz, CI, introduced the panel, stressing that when implemented properly, REDD+ can contribute to sustainable economic growth and provide an incentive to sustain livelihoods.
Greg Fishbein, TNC, noted that there are many actors working on REDD and that the event would describe their various roles in REDD readiness.
Angel Parra, CI, outlined key lessons learned from CI’s experience with REDD+, including the need to: secure appropriate partners and expertise; ensure scientifically robust technical work; and ensure stakeholder engagement at all levels.
Félix Magallón, Panama, shared his country’s experiences with implementing REDD activities, highlighting that 50% of total emissions come from deforestation. Noting that REDD is part of Panama’s National Environmental Strategy, he highlighted complementary work being done by indigenous groups.
Outlining that Indonesia has the second highest rate of deforestation globally,
Dicky Simorangkir, TNC, shared lessons learned about REDD implementation from experience with a demonstration project in Berau, Indonesia. He explained that the project has the potential to reduce carbon emissions through avoided degradation, forest conversion and forest enhancement activities.
Andreas Dahl-Jørgensen, Norway, reported the results of the Informal Working Group (WG) on Interim Finance for REDD+, highlighting the critical role of REDD+ incentive payments and of allowing countries to move at different speeds. He concluded by describing two performance-based REDD+ partnerships in Brazil and Guyana.
Participants discussed, inter alia: on-the-ground activities in Indonesia; financial transfers; and whether a global willingness-to-pay can make a difference to those living on the forest frontier. |
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Noriko Fujiwara, CEPS, presented the report of the CEPS Task Force entitled “The Clean Development Mechanism and Beyond.” She stated that new mechanisms should be judged according to their environmental integrity, the way they enhance public and private investments, and institutional strengths.
Benoît Leguet, Caisses des Dépôts, suggested that baseline setting should remain under the competence of the host country and be simplified.
Simone Mori, Enel, argued that there is a need for new flexible mechanisms that draw on the CDM's proven performance, are simple, remain pragmatic and preserve environmental integrity. Nick Campbell, Business Europe, stated that flexible mechanisms are a fundamental part of the negotiations and are integral to targets, timetables and technical deployment. He underscored the need for simplicity in the design of flexible markets, as otherwise many businesses will lack the expertise to engage with them.
Steven Gray, Climate Change Capital, explained that carbon markets impose a cost on carbon, and therefore create incentives to explore diverse mitigation options. He stressed that policy makers must balance supply and demand when developing markets and seek to ensure that credits are fungible between regional trading systems.
Rob Bradley, World Resources Institute, explained that the Waxman-Markey bill envisages the establishment of additional US-developed market mechanisms. In this context, he continued, the environmental additionality of the credits generated under these new schemes and the level of discounting become important.
Participants discussed: funding for renewable energy; the supply and demand for credits; mechanisms for incentives; the links between political will and the price of carbon; and the relationship between policy and the market. |
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This session focused on country experiences and adaptation strategies under the CC-DARE Programme. Abdoulaye Sene, Senegal, introduced the panel, emphasizing the need for resilience to adapt to climate change. Geert Andersen, Denmark, reminded participants of the effects of climate change, including water shortages, flooding and higher sea levels. He called for increased funding for climate adaptation and announced the Danish government’s commitment of US$240 million over a three-year period to a European Union fund currently under discussion for these purposes.
Bubu Pateh Jallow, UNEP, provided details about the UN CC-DARE programme, highlighting the importance of integrating climate change into other policies and removing barriers to adaptation. He emphasized the need, at the national level, for awareness, capacity building, and appropriate policies and institutions.
Sene moderated the panel on country experiences. Saïd Hounkponou, Initiatives pour un Développement Intégré Durable (IDID), Benin, Babacar Diouf, Senegal, and Annunciata Hazuka, Uganda, emphasized the need to integrate and mainstream climate change adaptation into development programmes and policies. Hounkponou reflected on appropriate mechanisms for coping with climate disasters and funding for local adaptation; Diouf noted the need to share best practices and scale up small pilot projects; and Hazuka highlighted research and awareness, and policy and legislation as two key intervention areas.
During the discussion, participants commended the CC-DARE programme. They posed questions on issues concerning, among other things: the generalizability of country-specific experiences; the role of women in local-level development activities; the focus on climate change-related disasters; project time scales; and the potential to use the CC-DARE funding model for other adaptation funds. |
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UNFCCC resources
Side event website
Summary of events
Timetable of events
UNFCCC News
UN resources
Gateway to the UN System’s Work on Climate Change
Informal Thematic Debate of the UN General Assembly on Climate Change as a Global Challenge
IISD RS resources
IISD RS coverage of the Forest Day 3, 13 December 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark
IISD RS coverage of the Agriculture and Rural Development Day 2009, 12 December 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark
IISD RS coverage of the Development and Climate Days at COP 15, 11-14 December 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark
IISD RS coverage of the Copenhagen Business Day, 11 December 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark
IISD RS coverage of the Barcelona Climate Change Talks 2009, 2-6 November 2009, Barcelona, Spain
IISD RS coverage of Selected Side Events at the Barcelona Climate Change Talks 2009, 2-6 November 2009, Barcelona, Spain
IISD RS coverage of the UNFCCC Technical Workshop on Advancing the Integration of Approaches to Adaptation Planning, 2-14 October 2009, UN Conference Centre (UNCC), Bangkok, Thailand
IISD RS coverage of the Bangkok Climate Change Talks - 2009, 28 September - 9 October 2009, Bangkok, Thailand
IISD RS coverage of the Bonn Climate Change Talks - August 2009, 10-14 August 2009, Bonn, Germany
IISD RS coverage of the Bonn Climate Change Talks - June 2009, 1-12 June 2009, Bonn, Germany
IISD RS coverage of Selected Side Events at the Bonn Climate Change Talks - June 2009, 1-12 June 2009, Bonn, Germany
IISD RS coverage of the UNFCCC Technical Workshop on Increasing Economic Resilience to Climate Change and Reducing Reliance on Vulnerable Economic Sectors through Economic Diversification, 28-30 April 2009, Cairo, Egypt
IISD RS summary report of the Thirtieth Session of the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC), 21-23 April 2009, Antalya, Turkey (English: HTML - PDF) (Spanish: HTML - PDF) (Japanese: PDF)
IISD RS coverage of the Bonn Climate Change Talks - March/April 2009, 29 March - 8 April 2009, Bonn, Germany
IISD RS summary report of the UNFCCC Workshop on Integrating Practices, Tools and Systems for Climate Risk Assessment and Management and Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies into National Policies and Programmes, 10-12 March 2009, Havana, Cuba (HTML - PDF)
IISD RS coverage of the Business Day at UNFCCC COP 14, 9 December 2008, Poznań, Poland
IISD RS coverage of the Forest Day 2 at UNFCCC COP 14, 8 December 2008, Poznań, Poland
IISD RS coverage of the Development and Climate Days at COP 14, 6-7 December 2008, Poznań, Poland
IISD RS coverage of the UN Climate Change Conference - Poznań, 1-12 December 2008, Poznań, Poland
IISD RS coverage of Selected Side Events at the UN Climate Change Conference - Poznań, 1-12 December 2008, Poznań, Poland
IISD RS coverage of AWG-LCA 2, second part of the AWG-KP 5, and twenty-eighth sessions of the SBSTA and the SBI of the UNFCCC, 2-13 June 2008, Bonn, Germany
IISD RS coverage of the Development and Climate Days at COP 13, 8-9 December 2007, Bali, Indonesia
IISD RS coverage of the Forest Day at UNFCCC COP 13, 8 December 2007, Bali, Indonesia
IISD RS coverage of the UN Climate Change Conference - Bali, 3-15 December 2007, Bali, Indonesia
IISD RS coverage of Selected Side Events at the N Climate Change Conference - Bali, 3-15 December 2007, Bali, Indonesia
IISD RS coverage of the Development and Adaptation Days at COP 12, 11-12 November 2006, Nairobi, Kenya
IISD RS coverage of the UN Climate Change Conference – Nairobi 2006, 6-17 November 2006, Nairobi, Kenya
IISD RS coverage of Selected Side Events at the UN Climate Change Conference – Nairobi 2006, 6-17 November 2006, Nairobi, Kenya
IISD RS coverage of the Development and Adaptation Days at COP 11, 3-4 December
2005, Montréal, Canada
IISD RS coverage of the UNFCCC COP 11 & COP/MOP 1, 28 November to 10 December 2005, Montréal, Canada
IISD RS coverage of Selected Side Events at the NFCCC COP 11 & COP/MOP 1, 28 November to 10 December 2005, Montréal, Canada
IISD RS climate and atmosphere page
Climate-L - A mailing list for news on climate change policy
Linkages Update - Bi-weekly international environment and sustainable development news
MEA Bulletin - Newsletter on key MEAs and their secretariats
Climate Change Policy & Practice - News and information on the actions of international organizations in responding to the problem of global climate change
African Regional Coverage |
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