The Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA) asserts that agriculture and livestock must be recognized as part of the global solution to ensure world food and energy security through actions and technologies that contribute to emitting less greenhouse gases (GHG) and mitigating the effects of climate change.
These were the ideas developed in a position paper launched on October 25. The document was delivered by João Martins, President of CNA, to negotiators and representatives of the Brazilian government.
“We reiterate our commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, ensuring the productive efficiency of agriculture, based on innovation, science, technology, preservation, and sustainability, seeking actions of recognition and incentive that are compatible with the greatness of Brazilian agriculture,” said João Martins.
The position paper was prepared especially for the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 28), which will be held from November 30 to December 12 in Dubai (United Arab Emirates).
Farmers from all over Brazil participated in writing the document, which also gathers the positions of state agricultural and livestock federations and rural unions. The contribution functions as a tool for the Brazilian government during the COP negotiations, highlighting the country’s role in helping to ensure world food, energy, and climate security.
The Brazilian government was in synergy with CNA’s position. “We know our responsibilities, and fallacies or rhetoric implemented under the pretext of environmental preservation will not impose economic embargoes or difficulties on our producers,” said Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Carlos Fávaro.
What the position paper says
CNA highlights in the position paper issues that will be discussed at the COP and which are essential for boosting actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change within the debates on the implementation of the Paris Agreement signed in 2015, with countries and Brazil defining targets through the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
According to the document, the organization recalls that in recent decades, Brazil—a country with one of the strictest environmental legislations in the world—has built up a huge environmental asset through agriculture, which has resulted in the sector preserving 33% (within private properties) of the national territory, as well as investing in low-carbon tropical agriculture that is recognized as exemplary.
The sector has also adopted technologies that reduce GHG emissions and favor the adaptation of production systems, combining production and environmental preservation, which has made the country a standard in developing an ambitious climate action policy for agriculture and food security.
“This immense environmental and climate capital has allowed us to develop this potential to respond to the challenges of producing more, better, and with less environmental and climate impact. The possibility of reducing impacts, adding innovation for small, medium, and large producers, and continuously improving production by combining adaptation and mitigation will be important for achieving the agricultural sector’s contributions to the NDCs,” the document points out.
8 points advocated by CNA within the central themes of COP
1. Assessment of progress on climate action (Global Stocktake)
CNA believes that COP-28 marks a critical moment in the implementation of the Paris Agreement. It will be the moment to consolidate the first global assessment of countries’ efforts to limit the temperature increase to a maximum of 1.5°C through the NDCs. This process will guide the revision and updating of the NDCs.
2. Sharm el-Sheikh Climate Action Group
Faced with the impacts that global warming could have on agriculture and on achieving global food security, CNA emphasizes the need to always address agriculture based on the mitigation, adaptation, and co-benefits approach, without neglecting the reduction of emissions.
3. Carbon market
The aim is to promote and establish bilateral or multilateral agreements between countries for the trading of emission reductions or removals, known as International Transfers of Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs); and to define how agricultural, forestry and land use activities will contribute to the NDC by being eligible for the carbon market.
4. New quantified global funding target
Developed countries must provide resources to promote the development of others. The US$ 100 billion promised has not been allocated, resulting in an undermining of implementation efforts and increasing the cost of achieving the goals set by the Paris Agreement. A new qualified target must be set, exponentially increasing these investments to meet the climate emergency.
5. Adaptation mechanisms
In this area, it is worth highlighting agriculture and the impacts that global warming could have on food production, renewable energies, and biomass. It will be essential to clearly mention agriculture as a sector that must be included in national adaptation plans and policies. In addition, climate finance must be strengthened to provide opportunities for the adaptation of production systems.
6. Transparency
Strengthening the capacity to draw up detailed inventories that allow the capture of consistent data on emission reductions and carbon removal in tropical agriculture is a challenge inherent to the potential for improving carbon balances in Brazilian agriculture.
7. Agriculture and food security
As a leading agricultural-producing country with low-carbon and resilient agricultural strategies, Brazil is naturally involved in any discussion about food systems and how to promote their transition.
8. Global Methane Commitment
Make it clear how Brazil will propose its roadmap in the context of the Commitment, which needs to include methane emissions from fossil production and waste, as well as livestock.
Access the CNA position paper for COP 28 at this link (in Portuguese).