{"id":9287,"date":"2018-05-07T12:30:12","date_gmt":"2018-05-07T16:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/?p=9287"},"modified":"2025-06-10T16:55:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T20:55:14","slug":"agriculture-united-nations-climate-resilience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/2018\/05\/07\/agriculture-united-nations-climate-resilience\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmers join international climate talks prepared to take action"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Nearly one year ago, President Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement. In the absence of federal government leadership, the agriculture sector is making its voice heard in the international climate change discussions taking place this week at the <a href=\"https:\/\/unfccc.int\/process\/conferences\/bonn-climate-change-conference-april-2018\/bonn-climate-change-conference-april-2018\">U.N. Climate Change Conference<\/a> in Bonn, Germany.<\/p>\n<p>Farmers are on the front lines of a changing climate and increasingly extreme weather. They know that climate-smart agriculture is critical to ensuring their operations continue for generations to come. That\u2019s why they\u2019re pulling up a chair to take a seat at the global climate table.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>Agriculture\u2019s role in climate solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9305\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9305\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9305\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/05\/UN_emblem_blue-300x255.png\" alt=\"United Nations logo\" width=\"200\" height=\"170\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/05\/UN_emblem_blue-300x255.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/05\/UN_emblem_blue-768x652.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/05\/UN_emblem_blue-1024x869.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/05\/UN_emblem_blue.png 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9305\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Agriculture celebrated a <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/2018\/02\/01\/climate-resilient-agriculture\/\">major breakthrough last November<\/a> when the sector was elevated from side discussions to full U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change consideration.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The North American Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance (NACSAA) \u2013 a farmer-led coalition of agricultural associations, nonprofit organizations, universities and companies \u2013 is in Bonn this week to advocate for climate-smart agriculture.<\/p>\n<p>NACSAA recommends a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.25x25.org\/storage\/25x25\/2018\/nacsaa_sbsta_sbi_ag_work_program_submission.pdf\">three-pronged framework [PDF]<\/a>\u00a0around the U.N.\u2019s Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture\u00a0that:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Increases agricultural productivity and livelihoods.<\/li>\n<li>Enhances capacity to adapt and improves resilience to climate change.<\/li>\n<li>Delivers ecosystem services, sequesters carbon, and reduces or avoids greenhouse gas emissions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Developing an integrated strategy for the sustainability of working lands will be a steep feat. These issues are complex scientifically, politically, socially and geographically.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"jumpOut nextButton\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/2018\/02\/01\/climate-resilient-agriculture\/\"><span class=\"boxInner\">Global governance and local leadership on climate-smart ag<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>The complexity of global agriculture solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While NACSAA includes members from the United States, Mexico and Canada, it is also part of the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture, which creates solutions for farmers worldwide.<\/p>\n<p>Because of the complexity of global agriculture solutions, NACSAA asks that the U.N. involve recognized agricultural experts to work closely with farmers to understand their real-world experiences \u2013 and, crucially, how U.N. policies would affect them. These experts would also help assess the state of scientific knowledge and identify innovative technologies for seven conservation priorities, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/ecosystems\/sustainable-agriculture\">soil health, water resource management and nutrient use<\/a> \u2013 priorities for farms around the world.<\/p>\n<p>As a NACSAA partner, Environmental Defense Fund will contribute science, policy and economic expertise to these endeavors, in addition to partnerships and lessons learned from across the global food supply chain.<\/p>\n<p>[Tweet &#8220;How climate-smart agriculture and global trade are connectedhttps:\/\/www.edf.org\/L6U&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Two threats to market access and profitability<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The economic and climate resilience of U.S. farms and rural communities are closely tied to global climate talks like those taking place this week in Bonn. By participating in these talks, U.S. farmers have a stronger say in the geopolitical forces that affect their market opportunities and profitability.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-9311 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/05\/160526_0094-2.jpg\" alt=\"An Ohio farmer and climate advocate stares straight ahead\" width=\"3872\" height=\"2592\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/05\/160526_0094-2.jpg 3872w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/05\/160526_0094-2-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/05\/160526_0094-2-768x514.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/52\/files\/2018\/05\/160526_0094-2-1024x685.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 3872px) 100vw, 3872px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Two of the biggest economic and policy threats to the global food supply chain are trade uncertainty and carbon emissions from agriculture.<\/p>\n<p>Pulling back from the Trans-Pacific Partnership last year put U.S. wheat at a substantial cost disadvantage compared to wheat from Australia and Canada. The escalating trade dispute with China has already hit U.S. soybean and sorghum prices, and renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement threatens to shrink the top export market for U.S. corn \u2013 Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to trade uncertainty, importing nations and multinational food companies are increasingly concerned about the carbon footprint of the commodities they procure, starting with the climate impacts of biofuels and agriculture-induced deforestation.<\/p>\n<p>International climate talks, which can seem procedural on paper, are vital steps toward making agricultural value chains more efficient and equipping farmers worldwide with the practices and tools to implement effective local climate adaptations that sustain or increase productivity, enhance climate resilience and contribute to a sustainable future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Agriculture is on the front lines of a changing climate and increasing extreme weather.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119681,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[120554],"tags":[107048,152,107054,71754,52,102784,107053,46599,102785],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-9287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-agriculture","tag-climate-adaptation","tag-climate-change","tag-climate-mitigation","tag-climate-smart-agriculture","tag-extreme-weather","tag-global-alliance-for-climate-smart-agriculture","tag-north-american-climate-smart-agriculture-association","tag-united-nations","tag-united-nations-framework-convention-on-climate-change"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119681"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9287"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15688,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9287\/revisions\/15688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9287"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=9287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}