Livestock Research Group Newsletter - December 2015

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A 1.5 degree C target demands urgent
mitigation in agriculture sector:
• As CCAFS has noted elsewhere,
. But even with a two degree
C target, by 2050 we will likely run
out of viable options for reducing
emissions from the industrial,
transport and energy sectors.
• Reducing emissions from agriculture
will be imperative as it will be
impossible to stay within either a 1.5
or two degree C target if agriculture
does not contribute to emissions
reductions.
• The Paris Agreement notes that, on
the whole, country commitments
to reducing emissions will not limit
global temperature rise to two
degrees and that “ much greater
emission reduction efforts will be
required”.
Countries want to take action on adapting
agriculture and reducing emissions from
farming – but funds are not yet there:
• Considerable finance is needed
for agricultural adaptation and
mitigation by Least Developed
Countries (LDCs).
.
• The Paris Agreement commits
developed countries to set a new
collective financing goal of at least
USD 100 billion per year, “ taking into
account the needs and priorities of
developing countries” but does not
include binding requirements on
financial contributions by individual
countries.
Issues related to agriculture are being
discussed in a slow-moving parallel
process under the Subsidiary Body for
Scientific and Technological Advice
(SBSTA):
• Now is the time for countries
and observers to prepare their
submissions on agriculture to
SBSTA for discussion at workshops
scheduled for June 2016.
.
Critical next steps for the global
agriculture community
There are some imminent challenges,
now that the deal is done. Will countries
take action quickly enough to limit global
warming below 2-degrees? Will funding
will be on hand to support developing
countries to implement their plans to
combat and adapt to climate change in
the agriculture sector? And will there be
enough political will to move away from
‘business as usual’?
The Paris Agreement opens the door
to further work on agriculture between
now and 2020, when the Agreement
takes hold. This is the chance for the
global agriculture community to step up
and drive action.
To read CCAFS’ full analysis of the
COP21 outcomes for food and farming,
download their latest . Visit
the to view the original
version of this article, along with
suggestions for further reading.
This article was reproduced with the
kind permission of the CCAFS authors:
Vanessa Meadu, Isabelle Coche, Sonja
Vermeulen, Anette Engelund Friis. The
views expressed in this article belong to
CCAFS.
©CCAFS-CGIAR
©CCAFS-CGIAR