Welcome to the 7th issue of FAO's e-newsletter on Climate Change and Food Security.
This update includes announcements of FAO's upcoming events on climate change, information on the outcomes of various international meetings, such as a workshop on measuring, reporting and verification of carbon organized by the UN-REDD at FAO and other conferences held with FAO's participation. Special attention is given to the latest activities on disaster risk management in countries such as Jamaica.
This edition also focuses on the threats and opportunities climate changes poses to fisheries and aquaculture with a brief interview to Cassandra de Young, FAO Fisheries Officer.
| Interview | Upcoming events | From the field |
Interview with Cassandra de Young, FAO Fisheries Officer
In this interview Cassandra de Young, FAO Fisheries Officer, provides insight on the impact of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture while underlining the potential this sector has in mitigating green house gas emissions. She also touches upon the coordinated action being made with other agencies in fisheries and aquaculture and the upcoming activities planned in the run-up to climate change talks in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Why should aquatic ecosystems, fisheries and aquaculture be taken into account during the climate change negotiations in Copenhagen next December 2009?
Issues relating to aquatic environments in general and aquaculture and fisheries in particular were not, until very recently, included in the debates to address climate change. Despite that oceans alone absorbed approximately 25% of the CO2 emitted by human activities between 2000 and 2007 and that the fisheries and aquaculture communities are at the front line of many climate change-induced events and are often the least resilient to these changes.
Some of the predicted changes include rising sea levels, more acidic oceans and more frequent and severe droughts, floods and storms, which translate into changes in productivity of marine and freshwater species, are already affecting biological processes and altering food webs. Fishers, fish farmers and coastal inhabitants will bear the full force of these impacts through less stable livelihoods, changes in the availability and quality of fish for food, and rising risks to their health, safety and homes.
What are the specific adaptation measures required for fisheries and aquaculture?
The fisheries sector differs from mainstream agriculture and has distinct interactions and needs with respect to climate change. The potential for displacement of aquatic resources because of climate change impacts require appropriate policy and legal mechanisms as well as strengthened regional structures and processes.
As fish products are among the most widely traded food products, regional market and trading mechanisms are also likely to be more important in linking and buffering supply variability and maintaining sectoral value and investment.
Adaptation measures, such as early warning systems, social and private insurance systems, livelihoods diversification, managed access and assisted migration, are well known by managers and decision makers, but political will and action is often lacking. To build resilience to the effects of climate change and derive sustainable benefits, fisheries and aquaculture managers need to adopt and adhere to best practices such as those described in the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. These practices need to be integrated more effectively with the management of river basins, watersheds and coastal zones.
How can the fisheries and aquaculture sector reduce green house gas emissions?
The primary mitigation route for the sector lies in its energy consumption, through fuel and raw material use and through - as with the other food sectors - management of distribution, packaging and other supply chain components. In the fisheries and aquaculture sector, as is the case for the agriculture and forestry sectors, there are many examples of multiple-win measures that can reduce or sequester emissions, enhance adaptation and contribute to food security, rural livelihoods, poverty reduction and environmental services.
For example, fuel efficiency for the sector as a whole can be improved by good fisheries management – current over-capacity and excess effort lead to lower catches per unit effort and, therefore, lower fuel efficiency; this is compounded by the fact that competition for increasingly limited resources can create incentives to increase engine power. In addition, by focusing on herbivorous and extractive species (e.g. shellfish), aquaculture can provide nutritious food with a low carbon footprint. The sustainable use of genetic diversity, including through biotechnologies, could have positive efficiency impacts - through widening the production scope of low-impact aquaculture species, aquaculture systems, or making agricultural crop materials or waste products usable for growing carnivorous aquatic species. These options would first need to be evaluated on wider social, ecological and political criteria.
There may also be important interactions for the sector with respect to aquatic environmental services (e.g. maintaining the quality and function of coral reefs, mangroves, inland watersheds) and potential carbon sequestration and other nutrient management options needing further R&D. The inclusion of mangrove conservation as eligible for funding from Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) is an example of innovative approaches to mitigation through aquatic environmental services positively impacting the fisheries and aquaculture sector.
What can we do now to lessen the impact of a changing climate on fisheries and aquaculture?
The future impacts of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture are still poorly understood; therefore, the key to minimising negative impacts and maximising opportunities will be understanding and promoting the wide range of creative adaptive strategies - implemented by public institutions or by private individuals - and their interactions with existing policy, legal and management frameworks.
Although generally perceived as having only negative impacts, climate change may provide the sector with an additional positive impetus to move toward sustainability. For example, applying existing good governance and management principles and approaches, such as the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) and aquaculture (EAA) — which include practices of adaptive and precautionary management based on appropriate social, economic, political and institutional incentives — should increase the resilience and adaptive capacities of aquatic resources ecosystems, fisheries and aquaculture production systems, and of aquatic resource-dependent communities.
FAO has joined efforts with other agencies to coordinate activities on climate change and fisheries. What are the partnership's next steps in the run-up to COP 15?
The Global Partnership for Climate, Fisheries and Aquaculture (PaCFA), comprising 18 IGOs, NGOs, and CSOs, was borne from a mutual desire to draw together potentially fragmented and redundant climate change activities through a multi-agency global programme of coordinated actions and the pressing need to raise the profile of fisheries and aquaculture in the UNFCCC negotiating process. In preparation for the UNFCCC meetings, the PaCFA created a joint policy brief, a joint UNEP/FAO letter to ministers and a joint press release. During the June 2009 Bonn meeting, the Partnership participated in a side event organized by Indonesia (The role of oceans in climate change and impacts to coastal populations: The Manado Ocean Declaration"), which presented the recently adopted Manado Oceans Declaration and highlighted the need to consider aquatic systems and fisheries and aquaculture in the negotiated text. PaCFA is working with Indonesia and other supporting countries and organizations to develop a concerted proposal for changes to the Ad-hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA) negotiating text.
In the run-up to COP 15, the Partnership will continue supporting country-driven efforts through the sensitization of and liaison with relevant line ministries within and without the sector about the need to participate in the negotiating process and by providing a neutral forum for the exchange of technical information regarding the possible impacts and appropriate strategies necessary in a world of increasing change.
Events
FAO to release paper on options for mitigation in agriculture during side event in Barcelona Climate Change Talks 2009
The last round of Climate Change Talks before the final meeting of the Convention of the Parties (COP15), in Copenhagen, Denmark, will take place from 2-6 November in Barcelona to discuss the summarised text of the seventh session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) and the ninth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP).
During this event FAO will organize a side-event on "Food security and agricultural mitigation in developing countries - In search of synergies" on 5 November from 18.00-19.30. On the ocassion a paper will be released with recommendations for implementing programs of agricultural mitigation in developing countries, covering financing, crediting, MRV, and capacity building.
The agenda of the talks will include suggestions and proposals on how to enable the full, effective and sustained implementation of the Convention through a long-term cooperative action by addressing:
- a shared vision for long-term cooperative action;
- enhanced national/international action on mitigation of climate change;
- enhanced action on adaptation;
- enhanced action on technology development and transfer to support action on mitigation and adaptation;
- enhanced action on the provision of financial resources and investment.
For more information on the climate change talks click here.
World Summit on Food Security
The World Summit on Food Security to be held from 16-18 November 2009 will discuss putting into place a more coherent and effective system of food security, including policies to ensure adequate incomes for farmers, mobilizing investments, and mechanisms for early reaction to food crises.
Prior to the Summit, a High-Level Expert Forum on “How to Feed the World in 2050” was held in Rome at FAO premises from 12-13 October 2009. Senior experts in relevant disciplines from around the gathered in Rome to discuss vital issues related to the increase of the world’s population and the related consequences on food production and availability. They also analysed policy options to be considered by the Heads of State and Government attending the World Summit on Food Security in Rome, November 16-18.
A special session on “Available Resources - land, water, and genetics, limits and challenges from climate change and new demands (bioenergy)” was held on 12 October 2009, during which issues such as need for adequate policies, access to natural resources and production of adequate food in light of climate change impacts and the need for an integrated approach were discussed.
From the field
Workshop in Jamaica helps face climate risks
FAO has recently organized a needs-based training on Integrated Impact Assessment in Jamaica, with the aim to strengthen national capacities to systematically assess and maintain agriculture data on livelihood assets, which provides the basis for the assessment of climate risks and hazard impacts.
Attended by more than 90 participants, the training was organized in two phases: a general introduction to the livelihood assessment framework was followed by the training on essential elements of Initial Livelihood Impact Appraisal (ILIA) and detailed livelihood assessment (DLA).
A livelihoods baseline assessment is central to the agriculture sector because it allows the precise mapping of agricultural livelihood groups in relation to specific hazard prone areas, local assessing of coping strategies to reduce the risks of natural hazards, and the sampling methods to help collect and use qualitative data that can be relevant for mitigation, preparedness and response actions.
A similar training will be organized in Belize from 27-29 October 2009.
Latest news
UN-REDD countries meet to share experiences on measuring, reporting and verification systems for REDD
A measuring, reporting and verification (MRV) meeting took place on on 10-11 September 2009 in Rome, bringing together representatives from the nine UN-REDD countries, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and a few other observers.
Among the most important outcomes of the two-day meeting, country representatives have been able to share their experience and learn from other UN-REDD projects, establish priorities for capacity-building and technical advice on MRV systems, and adopt a common strategy which will enable them to gather comparable data related to the implementation of MRV systems for REDD.
For more information of FAO’s work in UN-REDD visit the website.
International meeting on the roles of the regions in addressing the links between climate change and food security
A technical meeting “Territories, agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors faced with climate change: a better understanding of vulnerabilities for a more efficient response” was organized by FAO, UNDP and the Urban Community of Brest Métropole Océane (BMO) from 21-22 October 2009 in Brest. The meeting aimed to reinforce the dialogue among the regions, professional organizations and support organisms (research, international organizations) on the links between climate change and food security. About 150 representatives of regional governments from the north and the south , professional agricultural organizations, fisheries, forestry, researchers and international organizations were actively engaged in discussions on issues related to climate change and food security.
Contributions of professionals from the economic sectors concerned will further enrich the discussions and will feed into the joint statement of the regions for the Climate change conference which will be held in December in Copenhagen. It will also instigate the debates during the “Summit of the World Regions on Food Security” organized by the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR), the Forum of Global Associations of Regions (FOGAR), and the Senegalese authorities from 18- 19 January 2010 in Dakar.
To read FAO document « Territorial approach to problems related to climate change” click here.
A call for information on adaptation to climate change using agrobiodiversity
The Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research project on climate change is collecting information about initiatives on adaptation to climate change that are based on the use of agrobiodiversity. This tool intends to facilitate a learning dialogue between rural communities all over the world and build a knowledge base that can be used to increase the recognition for the multitude of adaptation practices communities engage in.
More information click here.
Publications, tools and websites
FAO and traditional knowledge: The linkages with sustainability, food security and climate change impacts
This publication highlights the value and use of traditional and local knowledge in FAO programmes and projects related to a wide range of issues, including farmers’ rights, poverty alleviation, nutrition and health, and gender equity. It also stresses the use of traditional knowledge to tackle the emerging problems of soaring food prices and climate change.
Finally, it puts emphasis on international and interdisciplinary collaboration to strengthen the interface between traditional knowledge and science and technology, to help enhance the world’s food and agricultural diversity and sustainability.
To download the publication click here.
FAO report “How to Feed the World in 2050”
Do we have the right policies to help ensure that the world's future needs of ensuring sustainable food production are met? What are the priority areas for policy action? The report “How to Feed the World in 2050” outlines main challenges and the actions required to ensure world food security in 2050.
In particular, the report stresses both the impacts of climate change on agricultural production and the global food security, as well as the mitigation potential of agriculture
To read the report click here.
Healthy oceans new key to combating climate change
A 'Blue Carbon' fund able to invest in the maintenance and rehabilitation of key marine ecosystems should be considered by governments keen to combat climate change. A new report, Blue Carbon: the Role of Healthy Oceans in Binding Carbon, launched by the UN Environment Programe (UNEP), the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, states that if more action is not taken to sustain these vital ecosystems, most may be lost within two decades.
To download the publication click here.
Towards National Financing Strategies for Sustainable Forest Management in Latin America: Overview of the Present Situation and the Experience in Selected Countries
This publication provides an analysis of existing forest financing mechanisms in Latin America, a region that has become the leader in the development and implementation of innovative forest financing mechanisms.
The analysis led to a better understanding of the existing resources and mechanisms available for the financing of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) in the region, and outlines the possibilities of finding alternative forms of financing, as well as the steps to be taken in order to maximize the effectiveness of the existing ones.
To download the publication click here.
Assessment of energy and greenhouse gas inventories of Sweet Sorghum for first and second generation bioethanol
The study outlines the outcomes of the energy and greenhouse gas balances and other environmental impacts, and provides a number of recommendations to assure the sustainability of Sweet Sorghum production and conversion.
Prepared following a joint FAO and IFAD consultation in 2007, this report is a revised study originally prepared for discussions in preparation of the High-level Conference on World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy (Rome, 2008).
To read the study click here.
The FAO's Climate Change webportal contains an even wider array of publications related to climate change and food security, impacts, green-house gas emissions, mitigation, adaptation and policy framework that can be consulted under the Publications section of the webportal.
The FAO also has published valuable tools ranging from dataset, to e-learning and training manuals that can be easily accessed and downloaded under the Data and Tools section of the webportal.
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