cop17day9

Agriculture is a unique sector of the economy. Its primary function is the production of food, and it is therefore vital for the day to day survival of mankind. At the same time, agriculture secures the livelihoods of large populations in rural areas, and it is an essential basis for economic development there… More

Law enforcement and anti-corruption activities are essential to successful and equitable efforts to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. REDD+ depends on the idea that governments, whether national or subnational, can create legal frameworks and plans to reduce deforestation and degradation, and put those laws and plans into practice… More

A new buzzword has been recently coined and is dominating international fora debating agriculture, climate change and food security: ‘sustainable intensification’. Industry and (some) government representatives claim that, if we want to feed the world by 2050, food production must increase by 70% and at the same time halve its environmental footprint, hence the need for ‘sustainable intensification’… More

Despite the uncertainty of climate change models, it is clear that agriculture is a sector that will be particularly hit by climate change, especially in developing countries… More

With the debate around REDD+ being a key focus of the discussions in Durban, yesterday scientists came together to present a new comprehensive scientific assessment in the framework of the Global Expert Panels (GFEP) investigating the linkages between biodiversity, forest management, and REDD+… More

Chief Adam Tampuri is here as part of a delegation of Fairtrade farmers and representatives. It is the first time he has been to a COP, and for Fairtrade this is also the first serious engagement in climate change advocacy at the global level.

Nationality: Ghanaian

Country and place of residence: Bole in the Northern Region of Ghana Current position: Chair of the Gbankuliso Cashew Farmers Association: a Fairtrade certified small farmers cooperative with a membership of 800, of which 20% are women.. More

Developmental processes are diverse and dynamic. However, there has been an ongoing debate on how development should be linked with the changing climate. The big question is whether there is a need to revamp existing policies and reframe them through the eyes of adaptation… More

For almost 30 years neither the private sector, nor governments have shown any real interest in agricultural investments. This is now changing. Agriculture has become hot. It has become hard politics… More

If climate discussions are anything to go by, the real colour of the environment is not green or blue, but red, or rather REDD+. Looking at the underlying logic of REDD+ a developed/developing world partnership on REDD+ should “create an incentive structure that turns around the economic and political logic that currently hinders sustainable development”… More

Deforestation and forest degradation is largely driven by forces outside the forestry sector. Many of these forces are closely tied to agriculture. For this reason, an isolated sectoral approach focusing solely on forests cannot succeed in implementing REDD+ policies. We suggest maximising synergies between sustainable agriculture and REDD+ and to ensure that food production and forestry do not compete for natural resources… More

As a comprehensive agreement on REDD+, the forestry mitigation mechanism, gets closer with each passing UNFCCC COP, it’s essential for stakeholders around the world – especially in developing countries – to fully understand the content, context and implications of adopted decisions… More

Outreach has been producing a number of video podcasts from side events for the past week at COP17… More

Quote of the day

I think negotiators should be taken to live in communities already impacted, and COPs should be held in places where people are suffering as a result of climate change, rather than big cities with comfortable hotels like Durban. From what I have seen here, the COPs are a way for many people to make a good living, so they should also be held accountable to make some good decisions.

Chief Adam Tampuri

Outreach is a multi-stakeholder magazine which is published daily at COP17. The articles written are intended to reflect those of the authors alone or where indicated a coalition’s opinion. An individual’s article is the opinion of that author alone, and does not reflect the opinions of all stakeholders.

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