Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 9 • Number 7 • 17th April 2009

Parties in Bonn Demand Greater Emphasis on Agriculture

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As two weeks of climate change negotiations in Bonn, Germany, came to a close on 8 April, little concrete action regarding international climate change policy was agreed upon. But observers say an important shift in negotiations occurred with a strong consensus supporting a more significant focus on agriculture in a post-Kyoto deal.

On 4 April, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) hosted its first workshop on agriculture where participants from the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) and other related organisations discussed the potential mitigation power of agriculture.

“The biggest mitigation potential of agriculture should be expected in terms of improvements in efficiency rather than absolute reductions in GHG emissions,” said Raul Montemayor, Vice President of IFAP. Montemayor also spoke of essential elements needed to make emissions reductions from agriculture a reality. He discussed the need for better technology, for incentives for farmers, and for a verification system for those products produced through clean agricultural practices.

Additionally, William Hohenstein, Director of the Climate Change Office at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), highlighted the serious threat that climate change poses to farmers and those in the agricultural industry, saying that “agriculture is on the receiving end of climate change; we are likely to be one of the sectors most impacted by climate change.”

Agriculture advocates at the workshop emphasized the need for greater research related to the capability of agriculture to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and they strongly urged that agriculture be a focal point in the new climate change policy that will replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. Many other states support the inclusion of agriculture in the new climate change policy that is set to be drafted in Copenhagen in December, and the recent consensus suggests that leaders now want to embrace the potential of agriculture in the deal.

Leaders in Bonn show greater flexibility

As indicated by the talks on agriculture, leaders at the Bonn Conference seemed to be more open in their dialogue of both new and old climate change issues compared to previous international meetings, such as that in Poznan, Poland, last December (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 15 December 2008, http://ictsd.net/i/news/biores/36372/). However, environmentalists say there is still a considerable amount of work that needs to be done. “Friendly rhetoric certainly helps, but without serious commitment and binding targets to reduce carbon dioxide it simply isn’t good enough to protect a fragile planet from runaway climate change,” said Kim Carstensen, leader of WWF’s Global Climate Initiative.

de Boer satisfied with Bonn outcome

Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, presented several major goals for the Copenhagen meeting at the start of the Bonn Conference, but observers say any concrete progress towards these goals was insignificant. On the opening day in Bonn, de Boer stated that industrialised and developing countries must describe their plans for emissions reductions and developed and developing states must form an agreement for the financing of the inevitable economic burden that developing states will face when converting to cleaner technologies. (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 3 April 2009, http://ictsd.net/i/news/biores/44630/).

Furthermore, developing countries - who had demanded that developed states cut their emissions by 40 percent by 2020 and who had requested US$2 billion in finances from developed countries - said they were disappointed with the minimal discussion about emissions targets for industrialised countries and about the lack of agreement on financing their mitigation strategies.

But despite the lack of substantial progress, de Boer said Bonn was a success. “Countries have narrowed gaps in many practical areas, for example on how to strengthen action for adapting to the impacts of climate change,” de Boer said.

More meetings added to UNFCCC agenda

Due to the slow movement towards international agreement on climate change policy, delegates at the conference in Bonn have agreed to organise further meetings in addition to the UNFCCC meetings that have already been planned for the year. Also, the new Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) Chair John Ashe from Antigua and Barbuda has been requested by the other parties at the conference to draft two documents for the next UNFCC meeting in June. These documents will include a proposal for the amendment to the Kyoto Protocol.

ICTSD Reporting; “Summary of the Fifth Session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action and the Seventh Session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties Under the Kyoto Protocol,” EARTH NEGOTIATIONS BULLETIN, 10 April 2009; “Slow Progress Made in Bonn Climate Talks,” ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE, 8 April 2009.