CA-CoP CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE

for sustainable production intensification


Dear Subscribers,

Please see herebleow a report from Don Reicosky on Conservation Agriculture at COP 21.

Apologies for cross-postings.

Please direct any queries to Don.


Amir Kassam

Moderator

e-mail: [log in to unmask]

URL: www.fao.org/ag/ca

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Don Reicosky <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, Jan 4, 2016 at 4:53 PM
Subject: CA summary report for COP21 in Paris
To: Don Reicosky <[log in to unmask]>


Please see the summary report below and the draft manifesto attached.   Don

Conservation Agriculture (CA) at COP 21

The COP 21 agreement in Paris to address climate change was adopted on Saturday, Dec. 12th, by 196 countries. They pledged to work together to limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels with a goal of keeping the increase below 1.5 Celsius. It calls for stopping the rise of greenhouse gas emissions.

The Agreement does not mention the word agriculture or soil even once, likely intended not to single out industries, however it did mention food a few times.  It does however mention forests, deforestation, forest carbon stocks and sinks several times.

The following will be a brief summary of events promoting CA at the COP21 meeting in Paris, 2 December-11 December, 2015.

APAD was the CA/local sustainable agriculture group promoting CA at the meetings.  This concerted effort promoting CA was initiated by APAD (Association pour la Promotion d'une Agriculture Durable, France) and included several collaborators from around the CA global community providing support and a global perspective to the conference. Their website with information on COP21 is:



The French Minister of Agriculture,  Stéphane Le Foll and his team’s efforts supported Conservation Agriculture and agroecology by presenting a new initiative entitled “four per 1000” to encourage a global focus on increasing soil carbon stocks (by 0.4%). More information can be obtained at the following links:



A USA organization, Kiss the Ground, with their partner, Human Energy, worked to have the words “The Soil Story” depicted in lights on the Eiffel Tower. It appeared every seven minutes for six nights and appeared alongside other important statements that hit international news.
To read more about their blog post regarding COP activities and press releases:  


APAD and the current collaborators promoting CA at COP 21 are also presently working towards the formation of a global communication network called G-CAN (Global Conservation Agriculture Network). At the present time G-CAN is an unofficial alliance of CA organizations for convenience and communicating at the COP 21 meetings. The basic idea is to have a “common messaging” vehicle for CA farmers and organizations with global interest in communicating and for all CA groups to give consistent messages promoting CA. As a result, a manifesto describing the common interest of the group was drafted and is attached to this email for your review and comment. 

The volunteer manifesto and G-CAN committee so far includes:   Tom Goddard, Amir Kassam, David Brandt, Maria-Beatriz Giraudo, Ricardo Ralisch, Gabriela Cruz, Don Reicosky, Theo Friedrich, Li Hongwen, Benoit Lavier, Gerard Rass, Sophe Gardette, Anna Trettenero, Miguel Barnuevo, Soren Ilsoe...

APAD activity summary at COP 21, Paris. 
by Sophie Gardette,               [log in to unmask]

Key achievements:
- A booth display, with more than 25 posters, from 4 continents
- 1000-plus people visited the display hosted by more than 20 farmers/experts of conservation agriculture. Thanks to our "international guests": Ricardo/Amir/Emilio/Paula/Pilu/Florencia and Gottlieb for support us in our discussions with visitors
- 100-plus relevant contacts to follow up with.
- 50-plus logos in our GCAN poster in support of the initiative and manifesto.
- 2 side-conferences of French ministry of agriculture, with a voice for CA (thanks Sarah Singla, APAD), and with the endorsements of the 4/1000 program and with the commitment of M. Le Foll to involve farmers in next steps and governance.
- 1 conference of GCAN, with a full room of interested people (including many young people), with six perfect speakers that kept within the tight timelines. It was a good opportunity for educating about the context of CA development worldwide and to present some current projects (Inspia/Climagri).
- 1 manifesto, signed by more than 15 worldwide organizations.
- 1 visit to a local CA farm, with 15 guests (including Healthysoil and Kisstheground people)
- More than 1000 pictures to organize and select. Find most of them (no selected) in the link : https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B7igY1rgs0_NMFFaaUF6SjZ5MVE&usp=sharing
- More than 10 press interviews/articles (+ TV/Radio) about our presence on COP21
- Lots of contacts with officials, and 1 photo of Pilu with our Ministry of Ag !

Our thoughts:
- COP21 was a good opportunity to talk about CA, launch the idea of GCAN and present a compelling manifesto to COP participants.
- A lot of international people (many from Africa) really interested about our network, and open for create/expand partnerships.
- A good cooperation between all of us in the working group (despite of the short timelines...), which is a good indication of our capacity to mobilize energy and resources for CA development.
- COP participants were pleased to see grass-roots farm organizations present and interested in contributing to addressing a global issue.  Our expertise and enthusiasm were welcomed.
- We must now "convert" this 1st step and create new opportunities for CA.

--
Don Reicosky
Morris, MN USA 56267
Cell Phone 320-287-2314
 



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