FAO helps achieve COP26 goals in agriculture, land use
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The effects of climate change have been significant around the globe, with considerable challenges for agricultural production and food security.
The Europe and Central Asia region, with its great variety of climates, landscapes, aquatic environments, soil types and social, economic and cultural systems, is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
To chart a path forward, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) held an opportunity today for senior experts to discuss the practical issues around limiting climate change and its impacts on the agriculture and the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sectors.
The workshop was the second in a series; the first aimed to help countries in the region prepare for the Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) climate negotiations in November 2021.
Today’s meeting aimed to help countries achieve the goals set out by the emerging economies of Europe and Central Asia at COP26 via better compliance with the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF), established under the Paris Agreement in 2015. The ETF specifies how countries must report on progress in climate change mitigation, nationally determined contributions, adaptation measures and support.
“The focus of today’s meeting was on identifying bottlenecks, analysing challenges and opportunities, and providing solutions and tools for the countries in order to comply with climate mitigation and adaptation targets,” said Tania Santivanez, FAO agricultural officer and regional coordinator of Regional Initiative 3, which aims to manage natural resources sustainably, conserving biodiversity in a changing climate.
During the workshop, renowned international experts, including from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, learned alongside country representatives from the region about useful reports and tools to help smooth compliance with climate change mitigation reporting requirements. These included the report “Policy analysis of nationally determined contributions in the Europe and Central Asia region” and the climate finance toolkit, which contains up-to-date information on various sources of climate finance.
The FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, in cooperation with the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute (GHGMI), also announced applications for two online courses and a training workshop for a limited number of participants from developing states and emerging economies within the region.
Olia Glade, Director for Measurement, Reporting and Verification Systems at GHGMI, stressed the importance of these online training courses on agriculture and forestry and other land uses. She suggested that FAO and GHGMI organize a virtual training on national greenhouse gas inventories for the agriculture and LULUCF sectors for participants from developing countries and emerging economies of Europe and Central Asia to increase the knowledge and skills necessary to use and/or prepare greenhouse gas emission estimates in the agriculture and LULUCF sectors.
Not only do these sectors produce greenhouse gas emissions, but they also are greatly impacted by climate change, putting them at the crossroads of climate change mitigation and adaptation.
”I believe FAO publications, knowledge-sharing and capacity-building activities will increasingly support the region with the emerging challenges,” said Mirella Salvatore, from the FAO Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment Office, in closing. “We invite all countries of the region to continue their cooperation with FAO to seek support for overcoming the barriers.”
The FAO Regional Office is committed to continue supporting these sectors in the region.
22 February 2022, Budapest, Hungary