Introduction
The right to food is one of the most basic rights of humankind. However, hunger remains unacceptably widespread, while many systems of food production used are simply unsustainable. Our work in this area is guided by our Climate Justice Principle: Support the right to development
Addressing climate change and achieving sustainability in the global food system need to be recognised as dual imperatives. MRFCJ believes room needs to be made in the agenda of the UNFCCC for discussions on agriculture and food security.
Although COP17 didn’t go as far as establishing a work programme on agriculture, it has created space in the negotiations for an exchange of views on agriculture. Submissions are invited from Parties and observer organisations to inform initial discussions at SBSTA 36 in Bonn, with the aim of agreeing a decision at COP18.
Latest Updates
Mary Robinson appointed to Lead Group of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement by UN Secretary General
President of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice, Mary Robinson, has been appointed by the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, to the lead group of SUN, the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement.
Mrs Robinson joins 26 others, including Tom Arnold, CEO of Concern Worldwide, along with Heads of State and representatives from business, development agencies and international organisations on the influential group.
50 Takes On Hunger
50 leaders, 50 weeks, 50 views on how to feed the world - an initiative marking WFP's 50 years on the frontlines of hunger.
The Durban Outcome – Progress on Addressing Food Security and Agriculture?
MRFCJ had hoped that COP17 in Durban could deliver a work programme on agriculture to initiate work on the links between climate change and food security under the Convention. We welcomed and participated in a number of high level events on agriculture and food security. Although negotiations on a possible work programme have been ongoing since Copenhagen, there had been little progress due to difficulties related to international aviation and transport, also included in discussions on sectoral approaches.
Download complete overview [1 page, 80kb]
Mary Robinson spoke at the high-level event Early Action Investment Platform on Climate-Smart Agriculture for Africa convened by the African Union, Government of South Africa and the World Bank. She called on policy makers to consider gender and women in making the connection between climate change and food security, “if you do, you will reach more than half the population of the world.”
COP17 “must deliver action” on the links between climate change and food security - Delivering a keynote presentation on Agriculture and Rural Development Day held at the Durban University of Technology Mary Robinson said:
“While the current text is blocked due to linked agenda items on bunker fuels and issues around trade, this COP must deliver action on the links between climate change and food and nutrition security. I hope that a high-level decision can be agreed which acknowledges the importance of agriculture to Africa and the rest of the world and creates space in the Convention for further work to be done.” read more
Speech also available on CGIAR website: Food security: A climate justice approach
REDD+ in Africa: Polices and Perspectives
Mary Robinson moderated a roundtable discussion today on REDD+ in the Africa Pavilion at COP17 which looked at the broad experience in Africa of addressing the challenges of REDD+. Entitled REDD+ in Africa: Policies and Perspectives, the discussion was organised by the Government of South Africa, African Union Commission, African Development Bank and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. read more
COP17 needs to address food security - Opinion piece by Mary Robinson, President of MRFCJ and Tom Arnold, CEO of Concern Worldwide, in the Irish Times.
An opportunity exists at COP17, Mrs Robinson and Mr Arnold said to make progress on the recommendation in the 2011 Global Hunger Index to adapt to and mitigate extreme weather change. “Achieving food security is complex. But a situation where almost a billion people go hungry every day, where a further billion are malnourished, is an affront to us all." read more
Self Help Africa and Malawian journalist Tiwonge Ng’ona look at the impacts of changes in climate on rural communities in Malawi where unpredictable rainfall is affecting food production.
Small coffee farmers hoping for a wake-up call at climate talks - The Irish Times
Excerpt: In a country where political and economic stability have been difficult to sustain, one thing the Ugandan farmer Ngambe Ehab could usually rely on was his region’s annual weather patterns... but over the past decade the rising global temperatures predicted by scientists have led to changing weather patterns in Uganda’s mountainous western region... read more
“If we believe that solving the problem of hunger and food security is a priority, a question of justice and fairness, then it is not beyond our power to resolve it”
- Mary Robinson told the students of the Trinity College Dublin / Universtity College Dublin Masters in Development Practice on Friday 25 November, days ahead of the opening of COP17.
Oxfam Australia spoke to women farmers in South Africa who explain how the lack of secure employment and access to land compounded by the impacts of climate change, threatens their food security.
On 2nd November 2011, Mary Robinson, President of MRFCJ, addressed the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Agriculture and Food for Development on the issue of Food Security and Climate Justice.
Download the remarks here [9 pages, 211kb]
Background
Climate change is one of the key drivers of change affecting the food system and contributing to rising food prices. It has been estimated by the United Nations Environment Programme that up to 25% of world food production could be lost by 2050 as a result of climate change, water scarcity and land degradation. Rising sea levels, drought, floods, storms and increasing temperatures are already a reality. The world will continue to witness more frequent and extreme weather events and greater unpredictability of rain patterns. Such phenomena are already having an impact, particularly on those in developing countries who have the fewest resources to cope, increasing the risk of food insecurity and under-nutrition.
Agriculture is also a source of greenhouse gas emissions. Strategies which can increase production, safeguard natural resources and increase resilience while reducing emissions are needed to enable climate smart agriculture.
Two meetings held in Africa in September explored the links between climate change and agriculture and indicated some useful follow up action for the international community; the African Agriculture Ministers meeting in Johannesburg discussed climate smart agriculture and called for “an Agricultural Programme of Work that covers adaptation and mitigation” under the UNFCCC. A similar call was made at a meeting of African Ministers for the Environment in Bamako, which recommended “that a comprehensive work programme on agriculture in non-Annex 1 Parties be established under the Cancun Adaptation Framework and further recommend that agriculture be addressed as a matter of priority in relation to the mitigation commitments of Annex 1 Parties”.