What Next – Climate Watch
The Committe on World Food Security -- A visual introduction
Thu, May 16 2013 11:37
| UN, Agriculture
| Permalink
A third info-graphic describing the Committee on World Food Security by Earth in Brackets. Click on the image.
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Say no to soil carbon markets@COP 17 sign-on letter to African Ministers
Sun, Nov 20 2011 10:08
| Durban, Carbon trading, UNFCCC, Agriculture
| Permalink
There's increasing heat around the issue of soil sequestration in agriculture linked to off-set carbon trading markets (see also this post). Below a link to a sing-on letter directed to African Ministers that lays out the arguments against carbon trading in soil sequestration.
ETC Group's Submission to Rio+20: Tackling Technology
Sun, Nov 6 2011 09:47
| Technology, Geoengineering, Rio+20, Agriculture
| Permalink
Here is ETC Group's submission to the Rio+20 Zero Draft with a focus on technology assessment, geoengineering and small-scale peasant-led agriculture. Short summary below and link to the full 22-page submission here.
The most dramatic technological transformation in history – involving information technologies, biotechnologies and engineering – has occurred since the first Rio Earth Summit in 1992; during the same period, however, governments have systematically downsized or eliminated their capacity to understand science and monitor technologies. While technology has thus far played an extraordinarily prominent role in preparatory documents for Rio+20, technology’s potential contribution to sustainable development and/or new Green Economies cannot be realized as long as the world lacks trusted and transparent mechanisms -- at global, regional and national levels -- for technology evaluation. The absence of such mechanisms incites distrust and invites disaster.
Soil carbon and carbon trading -- controversy heating up!
Tue, Nov 1 2011 12:50
| Development, Durban, False solutions, Mitigation, Climate Finance, Carbon trading, Agriculture
| Permalink
One of the major controversies in Durban will be the issue of soil sequestration in relation to carbon markets. The World Bank is heavily promoting the idea of linking agricultural soil sequestration to off-set carbon markets under the banner of 'climate smart agriculture'. It sees the Durban negotiations as an opportunity to open up for such a development by getting agriculture back in the texts.
An increasing number of organizations are however mobilizing against this, on the grounds of environmental integrity and climate justice. They argue that off-sets effectively opens up for increased emissions, as permanence (what happens with the carbon stored in the soils over time?), additionally (how can one know the carbon would't have been stored in the soils in any case due to e.g .government action or civil society and community efforts?), and inherent difficulties in measuring soil carbon makes the whole set-up extremely risky.
In addition, the economics is shaky, with farmers projected to only earn one or a few dollars a year, while private interests in the north gets cheap carbon credits to avoid and delay own actions to cut emissions.
At the spotlight is the Kenya Agricultural Carbon Project, run by the Swedish NGO Swedish Cooperative Centre (SCC)/Kooperation utan gränser.
An increasing number of organizations are however mobilizing against this, on the grounds of environmental integrity and climate justice. They argue that off-sets effectively opens up for increased emissions, as permanence (what happens with the carbon stored in the soils over time?), additionally (how can one know the carbon would't have been stored in the soils in any case due to e.g .government action or civil society and community efforts?), and inherent difficulties in measuring soil carbon makes the whole set-up extremely risky.
In addition, the economics is shaky, with farmers projected to only earn one or a few dollars a year, while private interests in the north gets cheap carbon credits to avoid and delay own actions to cut emissions.
At the spotlight is the Kenya Agricultural Carbon Project, run by the Swedish NGO Swedish Cooperative Centre (SCC)/Kooperation utan gränser.