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"This was not negotiation," said a lawyer representing the Commission, describing the private interactions via SMS between Ursula von der Leyen and the Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.

Ismahane Elouafi, Executive Managing Director of the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers (CGIAR). Credit: CGIAR

By Umar Manzoor Shah
BAKU, Nov 16 2024 (IPS)

As COP29 negotiations continue in Baku, agricultural leaders are pitching the need for climate-resilient and data-driven solutions to support marginalized farmers and low-income communities.

In an exclusive interview with Inter Press Service (IPS), Ismahane Elouafi, Executive Managing Director of the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers (CGIAR), discusses the impact of digital tools, precision agriculture, and low-emission food systems on achieving a sustainable and equitable food future. 

Inter Press Service: How helpful are digital tools in supporting marginalized farmers?

Ismahane Elouafi: Digital tools offer immense potential, especially in bridging the knowledge gap between agricultural experts and rural farmers who often lack access to information. Over the past few decades, funding for traditional extension services has dwindled, so digital solutions in local languages can fill this void. Imagine a farmer receiving real-time advice on managing water, soil fertility, or disease in a language they understand—this could revolutionize small-scale farming. Additionally, precision agriculture, which tailors input needs to specific locations and soil compositions, allows for highly customized farming strategies that optimize both resources and yields.

IPS: Can you explain how precision agriculture works in practical terms?

Elouafi: Precision agriculture allows us to deliver exact inputs—water, nutrients, or fertilizers—needed for a specific plot. This approach minimizes waste and environmental impact, and it’s especially useful in regions where resources are scarce. For instance, if a plant needs 20 milliliters of water in one square meter but only 10 milliliters a few kilometers away, precision agriculture ensures we don’t overuse resources. Ultimately, the goal is to increase productivity sustainably, producing more output per hectare with fewer inputs, especially in a time where climate pressures demand we be mindful of environmental impacts.

IPS: How essential is biodiversity to resilient farming systems?

Elouafi: Resilience means that after a shock—a drought, flood, or even conflict—farmers can bounce back and continue production. CGIAR’s focus is to provide tools, technology, and genetic resources that make this possible. We’ve developed rice varieties that survive flooding and maize that tolerates drought, helping farmers maintain productivity despite climatic stressors. Another key factor is small-scale irrigation, which allows farmers to respond to drought by providing supplemental water, ensuring resilience and food security.

IPS: You mentioned low-emission food systems. How can agriculture contribute to climate goals?

Elouafi: Agriculture is responsible for about 33 percent of global greenhouse gases. By shifting to low-emission practices, we can greatly reduce methane and other emissions. For example, traditional rice paddies release large amounts of methane. However, alternative wetting and drying practices can cut methane emissions by 30 percent while boosting productivity by 33 percent. In livestock, using specific forages and studying animal gut microbiomes can reduce methane emissions by up to 60 percent. Agriculture is uniquely positioned to sequester carbon through practices like cover cropping and biodiversity, which is crucial in mitigating climate change.

IPS: Could internet and data use enhance climate security?

Elouafi: Absolutely. Digital access and internet coverage in rural areas can provide timely climate information, like rainfall predictions, which empowers farmers to make better planting decisions. With projects like Elon Musk’s nanosatellite network expanding internet access, marginalized farmers can increasingly leverage climate data. CGIAR also focuses on producing accurate data for the Global South, as existing climate models often rely on data from the Global North, which doesn’t reflect realities in places like Sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia. Our data can inform region-specific, actionable climate strategies.

IPS: How does CGIAR support innovations and resilience in vulnerable regions?

Elouafi: CGIAR operates the largest publicly funded international agricultural research network, with a strong focus on least-income countries. Our goal is to close the yield gap between high- and low-income nations by providing bundles of innovations: drought-resistant varieties, small-scale irrigation, processing improvements, and access to markets. By helping farmers integrate these innovations, we ensure they’re more resilient and have a steady income. Additionally, our research helps policymakers design better frameworks to support smallholders and incentivize sustainable agri-food systems.

IPS: What do you hope COP29 will achieve in advancing agricultural and climate agendas?

Elouafi: COP29 must carry forward the momentum from COP28, where the UAE’s Declaration on Sustainable Agri-Food Systems was endorsed by 160 countries. Agriculture, food, and water systems need to be central to climate discussions. As we look to COP30 in Brazil, with its expertise in regenerative and climate-smart agriculture, I hope we continue viewing agriculture not as part of the climate problem but as an essential solution to it. Climate adaptation in agriculture is non-negotiable—lives and livelihoods depend on it.

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IPS' senior journalist Joyce Chimbi in conversation with IFAD President Dr. Alvaro Lario. Credit: IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
BAKU, Nov 16 2024 (IPS)

Life in remote, marginal areas, drylands and deserts is increasingly becoming difficult because rural people are in the crosshairs of an unprecedented climate onslaught. A substantial number of lives and livelihoods are on the line, as nearly half of the world’s population, 3.3 billion, lives in rural areas and 90 percent of them are in developing countries.

For many of them, agriculture is their lifeline and yet, there are increasingly limited tools and resources to build climate resilience. Dr. Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and UN Water Chair, spoke to IPS about the urgent need for an ambitious climate adaptation goal and focus on how the poorest, who are being more impacted by climate change, can benefit.

“Most of the heads of state I speak to, especially in Africa, are very much focusing on how they can support their rural areas with many of the extreme weather events they experience, whether it is floods, droughts or extreme heat. That goes even beyond agriculture,” Lario observed.

“Climate adaptation, especially for rural people, is at the centre of our work. We believe it should also be at the centre of the discussions at COP29. We must unlock the finance and solutions to support rural women and men to adapt to extreme weather events. At COP we talk a lot about mitigation and what is needed in terms of the technology and the energy transition, but less about adaptation.”

Lario further stressed the need for discussions on envisioned goals in terms of “climate adaptation and also, more importantly, how that trickles down to the small-scale farmers and the rural areas. During COP, strong announcements were made, in particular an announcement of increased investments in climate finance by multilateral development banks.  We need to see how this will be implemented. IFAD has committed to investing 45 percent of our Program of Loans and Grants over the next three years into climate finance, and that mostly means adaptation.”

IFAD President Dr. Alvaro Lario. Credit: IPS

Lario is a seasoned international development finance leader. He received a PhD in Financial Economics from the Complutense University of Madrid after completing a Master of Research in Economics at the London Business School and a Master of Finance from Princeton University. Under his stewardship, IFAD became the first United Nations Fund to enter the capital markets and obtain a credit rating, enabling the IFAD to expand resource mobilization efforts to the private sector.

On progress towards achieving COP29 top priorities, the IFAD President observed, “We only have a first draft of the negotiation and there is reference to adaptation. However, it is only the preliminary stage, so our ask is to ensure that we have a finance goal for adaptation, not just the overall goal for climate finance in general. We also need to start discussing what the financial vehicles should be and the instruments to mobilize the private sector.”

“We need to ensure the right structures or platforms that allow the private sector to come in are in place. At IFAD, we have been putting together a number of these structures, for example, with local financial institutions and with carbon credits, to attract private sector money into projects that benefit rural farmers.

Throughout his participation at Baku COP29, Lario has reiterated the need to send out a clear message that if there is going to be a successful energy and sustainable food systems transition, individual communities need to reap and feel the benefits. Emphasising that climate adaptation investments are not a sunk cost as they save lives, support livelihoods, and are key to addressing inequality.

According to UN statistics, as of 2022, four out of five people lacking at least basic drinking water services lived in rural areas. As Chair of UN Water, he has, in tandem, emphasized that extreme heat and too much or too little water are threatening the livelihoods of small-scale food producers who supply over a third of the world’s food.

Lario, for instance, says that a historic drought in Brazil has impacted coffee production. In Ghana, erratic rains cut cocoa production by half. And in Southern Africa, maize harvests are well below average due to an historic dry spell.

Stressing that “in many commodities and crops, this is also impacting food prices. Food inflation across developed and developing economies will always adversely impact those communities with lower incomes who are less resilient.

“So here in Baku, as world leaders work toward new climate finance goals, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is advocating for a truly ambitious commitment to support small-scale farmers. Investing in food producers’ resilience is not only the right thing to do—it’s an investment with a business and social return,” Lario emphasized.

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Event Presentation 
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At COP29, DanChurchAid, Oxford Climate Policy (OCP), and the International Peace Institute (IPI) hosted a side event titled “Innovative Sources for Loss and Damage Funding: Introducing the Climate Solidarity Alliance” on November 15th.

The event explored the role of climate solidarity levies as a potential solution for raising domestic funds and enhancing international collaboration through presentations and a panel debate. Participants emphasized the urgency of scaling up funding to address the growing impacts of climate change and encouraged countries to implement these levies to show solidarity with the most vulnerable communities.

Professor Benito Müller gave a virtual kick-off presentation entitled “Climate Solidarity Levies and Alliance – Walking the Talk”. The proposed alliance would foster international collaboration and inspire countries to establish domestic loss and damage trust funds sourced, inter alia, by domestic solidarity levies tailored to their contexts.

The idea is being considered by the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force, which was launched at COP28 by Kenya, France, and Barbados.

From Fiji to France, participants shared insights and commitments:

In his presentation, Dan Lund, special advisor to the Fijian government, talked about how Cyclone Winston, which in 2016 was the strongest cyclone to make landfall on record, was a turning point for Fiji. Following the immense destructions of Winston, Fiji set up the Climate Relocation of Communities Trust Fund in 2019. Ever since, Fiji has been a key player in advancing the idea of solidarity levies for loss and damage.

“This is the time to act!” said Jean-Christophe Donnellier, the Co-Chair of the Board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage from France. He emphasized the growing political momentum there has been after the task force was established while also acknowledging the challenges of ensuring mechanisms do not harm social equity or national competitiveness.

Yussuf Hussein, Climate Finance Lead at the Executive Office of the President from Kenya, pointed to the task force as a platform to foster dialogue at the highest level. He emphasized the political momentum that the task force had gained since being launched at last year’s COP28. Looking ahead to 2025, Hussein said that the coalition and task force will be presenting concrete initiatives and impact assessments.

Jens Fugl, Chef Advisor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from Denmark, continued by underlining how proud Denmark is to be one of the newcomers in the task force. He acknowledged that Denmark is less clear on how to implement the levies but looked forward to exploring the next step: addressing emissions from international sectors like shipping and air travel.

Lillian Chagas, Director for Climate in Ministry of Foreign Affairs from Brazil, reiterated the importance of developing and analyzing new funding mechanisms and underlined that innovative finance sources, such as solidarity levies, will be “one of the main subjects we will propose for COP30.”

After the panel debate, Toeolesulusulu Cedric Pose Salesa Schuster, Minister for Natural Resources, Land, and Environment from Samoa, an island nation severely impacted by sea-level rise from climate change, made a heartfelt plea: “We are losing our land. Are you ready to place your money to really do something or are we going to wait another 10 years?” He also announced a new app, which will calculate the carbon footprint of each travel to and from Samoa, where a carbon offsetting levy is applied. The fund, which these levies will be paid into, will help pay for relocating community, building a sea wall, replanting mangroves, and funding other adaptation and loss and damage needs that Samoans will be facing as climate change continues to pose an existential threat to the small island state.

The event concluded with a unified call for increased collaboration and innovative solutions.

The event showcased not only the potential of solidarity levies but also the power of partnerships to tackle one of the most pressing issues of our time.

The post Innovative Sources for Loss and Damage Funding Discussed at COP29 Side Event appeared first on International Peace Institute.

Extraordinary plenary session, Commission hearings, committee and political groups meetings

Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

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L'exposition La force est la persistance des sentiments forts réunit les artistes Ana Vrtačnik, Bosiljka Zirojević Lečić, Andrea Ivanović Jakšić, Emilija Radojčić et Brankica Žilović, avec le commissariat de Slavica Žarković. En créant leurs tableaux, les artistes sélectionnées utilisent des matériaux non picturaux et dans ces toiles non conventionnelles, à savoir toiles-objets, à l'aide de divers matériaux souples tels que le tissu, la laine, le carton et le papier, elles jouent avec notre (…)

- Agenda / Région parisienne, Serbie

L'exposition La force est la persistance des sentiments forts réunit les artistes Ana Vrtačnik, Bosiljka Zirojević Lečić, Andrea Ivanović Jakšić, Emilija Radojčić et Brankica Žilović, avec le commissariat de Slavica Žarković. En créant leurs tableaux, les artistes sélectionnées utilisent des matériaux non picturaux et dans ces toiles non conventionnelles, à savoir toiles-objets, à l'aide de divers matériaux souples tels que le tissu, la laine, le carton et le papier, elles jouent avec notre (…)

- Agenda / Région parisienne, Serbie