03/12/2019

Join us at the Climate Conference COP25 | Time for Action

The 25th UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) started 03 December in Madrid and will run until 13 December. As every year, IFOAM – Organics International will organize and attend several events to speak out on behalf of the organic food and farming community and to raise awareness about the urgent need to make organic agriculture part of a climate change solution.

We will be participating in the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture and hosting a side-event Transforming Our Food System to Support Natural Carbon Sinks.

Move from Chile to Madrid

COP25 will be remembered in the history of climate negotiations as the first UN Climate Conference to be temporarily cancelled. The history behind the implementation of this conference is troublesome. Already during COP24 in November 2018, the newly elected Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro withdrew the offer to host COP25. Chile then stepped in and decided to organize this event, but on 30 October 2019, one month before the beginning of the COP, the Chilean Governments pulled out from hosting the event due to the prolonged civil unrest and demonstrations. These started as a consequence of a rise in public transport fares and soon turned into a nationwide anti-government and anti-inequalities movement.

Nevertheless, we hope this COP will be remembered for having set an important milestone in increasing political ambition by ensuring enhanced action for the revision of the Nationally Determined Contributions that should be concluded by COP26, which will take place in Scotland in  November 2020. Parties at COP25 need to clearly welcome and recognize two publications made by the IPCC published this year namely the Special Report on Climate Change and Land and the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate.

A Technical COP

This COP is considered a technical COP because negotiators will be expected to complete the “Paris Rulebook”, branded as such last year in the Katowice Climate Package. This manual is designed to operationalize the Paris Agreement by 2020 so countries are now equipped with guidelines to plan, implement, and review their actions to halt climate change. The agreement was reached in the final hours of COP24. In particular decisions related to market and non-market mechanisms (Article 6) should be finalized during this COP (See CIEL COP25 – Briefing Note – Rights in Article 6). This COP25 is also expected to review the mandate of the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage (WIM) moving towards stronger support and concreate action in solidarity with countries suffering from the impacts of climate change.

Showcasing Organic Solutions  –  Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture

IFOAM – Organics International, as member of the farmers constituency, contributes to the current work stream on agriculture, titled the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture (KJWA). Under this workstream, six workshops covering different climate change and agriculture topics were scheduled. The next workshop is taking place on 04 December during COP25 and it will focus on Improved nutrient use and manure management towards sustainable and resilient agricultural systems. The focus of this workshop is of key importance for us. Improved nutrient use cannot be dealt with as a stand-alone issue. We would like to stress the importance of a holistic approach to nutrient management which supports plant productivity while preserving and enhancing soil organic matter stocks, below and above ground biodiversity and reducing nutrient losses to the atmosphere and aquatic systems. To ensure our points are heard at the workshop, Francisco Cornejo Soms, a long-established Chilean organic farmer, will join a panel of experts to speak on our behalf and share his experiences as a guardian of soil fertility and soil health who stands up for millions of farmers rights. Read our position here.

Side Event – Transforming Our Food System to Support Natural Carbon Sinks

On 12 December, Meeting Room 1, 15:00- 16:30, we are co-organising an official side event titled: ” Transforming Our Food System to Support Natural Carbon Sinks”, where we will showcase concrete solutions to increasing soil carbon and reducing ocean acidification to combat climate change. We will learn how farmers, pastoralists, marine biologists, scientists and food advocates are collaborating in new ways to regenerate ecosystems to meet the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. 

 
IFoam
I accept I do not accept