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Alliance Council member country representatives 2014.
This meeting saw the Netherlands take on
the role of Council Chair, with Uruguay as
outgoing Chair. Uruguay’s achievements
during its past year as Chair saw the
Alliance form a Partnership with the World
Farmers’ Organisation to better connect
the outcomes of the Research Groups with
the farmers who can implement these
changes in practice. Under Uruguay’s
Chairmanship the Research Groups were
also asked to consider how they could better
consider synergies between greenhouse gas
mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
In his outgoing speech Walter Oyhantcabal,
Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and
Fisheries welcomed the eight new countries
that had joined the Alliance in the past year,
with six countries also from the region of
Latin America. Countries new to the Alliance
since July 2013 are: Belgium, Bolivia,
Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama,
Paraguay and Sri Lanka.
The Netherlands Ministry of Economic
Affairs hosted the meeting, which
included an innovative mix of discussions,
presentations and visits to agricultural
sites. The agenda ensured that the Research
Groups and Cross-Cutting Groups remained
at the heart of discussions, as each Group
was provided with an hour to present its
activities and issues to the Council and
engage in discussion with members. As in
previous years, the Research and Cross-
Cutting Group Co-Chairs met ahead of the
Council meeting to discuss issues common
across all Groups and at this time identified
five common topics to present to the Council:
1. Framing the Profile of the Research
Groups
– outcomes for stakeholders and
the creation of regional networks, define
and study mitigation and adaptation
synergies
2. Key Global Partners
– strengthen our
role as an effective research partner with
existing key organisations; roadmaps for
engagement
3. Communication
– develop appropriate
communications for our partners,
improve the website to promote the data
and achievements, Identify and exploit
promotional
opportunities,
greater
commitment from Council Members to
appoint and support a dedicated contact
for each of the Groups
4. Adaptation
– develop an additional
Stocktake on specific adaptation studies
related to GHG emission management
with a focussed Terms of Reference and
support from partners
5. Cross-cutting issues
– Strengthen
the dialogue with Research Groups:
Integrated Cross-Cutting Networks
under Cross-Cutting Leadership
The outcomes from the Council meeting
saw agreement for the proposed Research
Group activities as outlined above. The
Council agreed to continue developing its
own strategic relationships with partner
organisations, including identifying new
partners and developing concrete activities
with new and existing partners. The Council
will also promote the Alliance at international
events such as the UN Secretary-General
Climate Summit in September 2014.