New Developments for Climate Smart Landscapes Globally

7 February 2019, Washington, DC - FAO North America in partnership with EcoAgricultrue Partners organized a roundtable on new developments for climate smart landscapes globally focusing on policy, partnerships and finance.

Amidst mounting challenges posed by climate change, the global community is being asked to do more in terms of mitigation and adaptation with fewer resources. Addressing these challenges is made more difficult by a dearth of public sector funding. While this poses significant risks and constraints to implementing climate smart interventions, it is also leading many to creatively pursue opportunities for collaboration, new forms of funding and investment, and novel mechanisms for partnerships across levels and sectors.

These new developments can be tough to keep track of, which is where February’s FAO-EcoAgriculture Partners Landscape Roundtable came in. Panelists for this roundtable included Thomas Hammond, Senior Officer for Land and Water at FAO and Genevieve Maricle, Global Knowledge and Innovation Lead, Climate and Energy Practice of WWF.

Thomas Hammond pointed out the importance of production landscapes – which merge production and adaptation systems. He noted the need to include plans that diversify crops, adapt to changing climates, and create means to manage drought or flooding. He also underlined the need to work with farmers to improve the value proposition of providing ecosystem services. Genevieve Maricle from WWF explained how despite a great deal of international attention and various commitments to sustainable landscapes, there is insufficient momentum to carry out commitments through completion. She suggested that greater leadership and monitoring and evaluation is needed to sustain these efforts.

The roundtable participants concluded that possible future topics for discussion include how to monitor and evaluate nutrition results on a landscape level, and highlighting success stories on global landscape action.