2/5/23 00:00

The Voice of Producers in the Fight against Global Warming: Aapresid at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 27)

Following the motto Evergreen Agriculture, Aapresid participated at the United Nations Conference that every year, brings together political leaders, international agencies and specialists from all over the world to discuss actions against climate change.

File photo: COP26.

From November 7 to November 12, Marcelo Torres, Vice President of the Asociación Argentina de Productores en Siembra Directa and María Cecilia Ginés, International Program Manager of Aapresid, represented the Institution at COP27: "Working for the benefit of people and the planet," participating in events and developing a meeting's agenda with strategic players during the Sharm El Sheikh Summit, Egypt. 

According to Marcelo Torres, "Agriculture based on no-till farming, more frequent rotations and crop diversity is the unquestioned model to fight climate change. There is extensive scientific evidence showing the positive impacts of these models on the carbon footprint, reduced emissions, better water use and lower environmental impact." 

In Argentina -and many countries of South America - this production model is developed in 90% of the agricultural area, while in the world it occupies only 12%. "Today the world requires an agriculture without deforestation, and we agree that it is essential to preserve natural landscapes and design productive systems adapted to these fragile environments. However, we also need that countries would understand that the fight against climate change is not possible if we don’t adopt no-till, intensive and diverse agriculture. Soils are the largest terrestrial reservoir of carbon on the planet; we have to take advantage of it." 

The second topic of Torres' participation was about network innovation: “In order to make these sustainable models grow, we need collaborative innovation, where the needs and demands arise from the producers themselves, who, in turn, are main characters in finding solutions together with science, political decision-makers and companies, through field experimentation methodologies in real production situations. The answers cannot remain in the laboratory, they must be anchored in the field, he concluded. 

In the event, agriculture had a strategic focus, and played a leading role due to its contributions to face the challenges posed by climate change.

It was the first time that agriculture in the Americas had its own space at the COP: the Home of Sustainable Agriculture in the Americas, where the catalytic role of agri-food systems in climate solutions and their role in global food security were demonstrated. In this framework, Aapresid was part of the discussions that focused on the promise of innovation and clean technologies, as well as the importance of water and agriculture to the climate crisis, participating in two events in this space co-organized with CREA and GPS (Southern Producing Country Group).

In addition, Aapresid participated as a speaker in a session organized by the Coalition of Action for Soil Health (CA4SH) about the "Resolution for Soil Health" at the Food Systems Pavilion. In conjunction with distinguished institutions such as WFF, the 4/1000 Initiative, UNCCD, among others, Aapresid exhibited the role of productive systems in our region based on the no-tillage system as a key partner in the fight against climate change.

The aims of Aapresid through its participation in the Summit were to contribute to positioning the model of sustainable agriculture that we promote in our region, sharing the producer’s point of view to a global audience, and promoting a low impact agriculture, based on science and technology, and integrating the consumer's point of view.

WHAT IS THE COP?

The COP (Conference of the Parties) is the decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Since 1994, the COP sessions bring together the countries that have ratified the United Nations Conventions, and to date there have been 26 sessions. At these meetings, decisions are taken by consensus of the 197 parties that are part of the UNFCCC, according to an agenda to be agreed and approved by them. The aim is to coordinate actions related to the reduction of GHG emissions and the fight against climate change, to exhibit the actions that are being taken to mitigate it and to discuss emerging problems.