Climate Change & Agriculture Debate
Background
On 12 December 2015 in Paris, the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) concluded negotiations on a landmark agreement to limit global average temperatures to below 2°C. The Paris Agreement will enter into force when it is ratified by at least 55 Parties that in aggregate account for at least 55 percent of total global emissions. The Signing and Ratification Ceremony will be taking place in New York on 22 April 2016.
2015 was the year of making decision and 2016 is the year of taking action!
Agriculture, food security, ending hunger, and sustainable development were all featured prominently in the Paris Agreement. And it is now time to increase communication efforts around the concept that one of the biggest issues for climate change is food security. FAO will communicate a number of messages to target audiences from rural communities to consumers, governments and civil society. The 2016 FAO’s World Food Day is dedicated to Climate Change and Agriculture. It resonates with the crucial time in which it will be observed, just before the next Climate Change Conference, COP 22, from 7-18 November 2016 in Marrakech, Morocco. The slogan, “Climate is changing. Food and agriculture are too.”, highlights how food and agriculture need to adapt to climate change in order to feed a growing global population in a sustainable way.
In line with the 2016 World Food Day Celebration, the FAO Liaison Office in Geneva, is organizing the Climate Change & Agriculture Debate, Palais des Nations, Room IX, 7-11 Avenue de La Paix, Geneva, to raise public awareness in general, and among tertiary students in particular, on issues related to the important linkages between food security, agriculture development and climate change adaptation and mitigation and disaster risk reduction. The event will be organized in collaboration with partner organizations such as the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
Debate motions
- That climate change means we should invest more in agriculture!
- That climate-smart agriculture is an answer to the food security issue!
Participating Universities
- Bern University of Applied Sciences
- University of Zurich
- The Graduate Institute
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Judging committees of the Debate
- Ms Sandra Aviles, Officer-in-Charge, FAO Geneva
- Mr Hassan Partow, Environmental Affairs Officer, UNEP
- Ms Dao Nguyen, Coordinator, Biodiversity Policy, WWF International
- Mr Vincens Côté, Green Development and Climate Change, UNITAR
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TENTATIVE PROGRAMME
13.30 – 13.50 Opening Session
Opening remarks by Ms Sandra Aviles, Officer-in-Charge, FAO Geneva
Welcome remarks by
-Ms Dao Nguyen, Coordinator, Biodiversity Policy, WWF International
-Mr Vincens Côté, Green Development and Climate Change, UNITAR
-Mr Hassan Partow, Environmental Affairs Officer, UNEP
13.50– 14.00 Setting the scene: Background, structure of the debate, and introductions
14.00 – 14.40 Debating the proposition: That climate change means we should invest more in agriculture!
(The Graduate Institute Vs Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
14.40 – 15.20 Debating the proposition:That climate-smart agriculture is an answer to the food security issue!
(University of Zurich Vs Bern University of Applied Sciences)
15.20 – 15:50 Coffee Break
15.50 – 16.20 Result announcement and judges’ feedbacks
16.20 – 16.30 Award presentation and photo session
16.30– 16.40 Closing Session
Closing Remarks by FAO
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For further information/registration (until 31 March 2016) please contact: Wirya Khim, Natural Resources Officer at [email protected], Tel: 022 917 36 81, & [email protected]