FAO: Include Farmers in Climate Change Negotiations

Alexander Mueller, Assistant Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has urged policy makers to include agriculture in negotiations for a new climate change pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol. Speaking at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) taking place in Germany, Mueller noted that while agriculture is contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, farmers will also become victims of climate change. "Rural communities dependent on agriculture, particularly in developing countries, will face risk of increased crop failure and loss of livestock," said Mueller. Agriculture is responsible for about 14 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and improper land use practices account for another 17 percent.

Mueller stressed the role farmers can play in reducing greenhouse gas emission. By carbon sequestration, the capture and long term storage of carbon in the soil, farmers can help reduce carbon dioxide levels in the air, enhance the soil's resilience and boost crop yields. Mueller however noted that current global funding arrangements, like the Clean Development Mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol, are inadequate and are not offering sufficient incentives for farmers to get involved in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Thousands of delegates from public and private institutions are meeting in Bonn, Germany. The meeting is the first of three sessions that will be held to come up with a draft climate change treaty in preparation for a high-level U.N.-backed conference in Copenhagen in December.

Read the FAO press release at http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/11356/icode/ For more information on the UNFCC, visit http://unfccc.int/2860.php