Opening plenary

The High-Level Plenary Opening focuses on agriculture-based climate solutions to unlock adaptation and mitigation potentials and sustain livelihoods. The Opening consists of key note speeches and key messages from a young farmer on initiatives to upscale climate action in the agricultural sectors.

Venue: Room 6
Time: 10:00 - 10:30 

Moderator: René Castro, Assistant Director-General, Climate, Biodiversity, Land and Water Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Speakers:

• Dr. Mohamed Ait Kadi, President of the General Council of Agricultural Development, Morocco
• Christian Schmidt, Minister of Food and Agriculture, Germany
• Inia Seruiratu, High-level champion for global climate action, Minister for Agriculture, Rural & Maritime Development, and National Disaster Management, Government of the Republic of Fiji
• Ankit Kawatra, Founder of Feeding India / 2017 UN Young Leader for SDGs

Low carbon livestock: moving forward

This event will explore initiatives on the ground that reduce emissions from livestock production, sustain livelihoods in a changing climate, and provide for human nutrition. It will focus on various production systems and regions, as well as forward-looking options for policy-makers.

Venue: Room 6
Time: 10:30 - 12:00 

Moderator:
Dr. Hayden Montgomery, Special Representative of the Global Research Alliance
Event chair:
René Castro, Assistant Director-General, Climate, Biodiversity, Land and Water Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Keynote speaker:
Anne Mottet, Livestock Development Officer, Animal Production and Health Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Managing water scarcity for agriculture

The overall objective of the proposed event is to bring together partners, key stakeholders and country representatives to present progress made in the implementation of the initiative and to highlight the way forward between 2018-2020. The meeting is also an opportunity to mobilize further support and greater participation in the collective efforts to tackle water scarcity.

Venue: Room 7
Time: 11:30 - 13:00 

Speakers:

• H.E. Christian Schmidt, German Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, Germany
• H.E. Mrs. Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, African Union 
• Mr. Roberto Ramirez de la Parra, Director General, Comisión Nacional del Agua (CONAGUA), Mexico
• Mr. Olcay Ünver, Deputy Director of Land and Water Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Unlocking the potential of Soil Organic Carbon for climate change action

The event is to inform participants and countries of the importance of soil and soil organic carbon (SOC) in addressing climate change adaptation and mitigation. It will provide evidence of how sustainable soil management can contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation, especially in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and calls for the inclusion of soils in the climate change agenda.

Venue: Room 6
Time: 12:15 - 13.45

Event Moderator: Mr. Eduardo Mansur, Director, Land and Water Division, FAO

Scaling up Climate-Smart Agriculture to achieve the Nationally Determined Contributions in the agriculture sectors

The event will highlight the importance of, and opportunities offered by existing approaches to scale up Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA), helping countries to achieve their NDC commitments in the agriculture sectors. The event will highlight success stories, and current progress and challenges will be discussed.

Venue: Room 1
Time: 15:00 - 16:30

Launch of the climate-smart agriculture sourcebook
Venue: Bonn zone
Time: 14:15 - 15:00

Downloading climate data to grow agriculture

The event focuses on best practices in developing climate data to understand climate conditions. It discusses how these might be scaled up to support climate resilience, mitigation and adaptation practices in the agricultural sectors to support livelihoods and food security around the world.

Moderator: Roger Dungan, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Speakers:
Mr Marc Sadler, Adviser on Risks and Markets, Agriculture Global Practice, World Bank
Ms. Francesca Eggleton, Senior Policy Analyst, Ministry for Primary Industries, New Zealand
Mr. Masamichi Saigo, Former Director-General of Japan Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research Council, on behalf of Dr Masa Iwanaga, current Chair of Global Research Alliance
Mr. René Castro, Assistant Director-General, Climate, Biodiversity, Land and Water Department, FAO

Venue: Room 6
Time: 14:30 - 16:00

Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems and climate change

This event will consider how traditional knowledge, agricultural practices and technologies embedded in the sites designated as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems can contribute to combatting and addressing climate change.

Venue: tbc
Time: 16:15 - 17:45

Promoting collaborative climate action to reduce food loss and waste

The event will look at key challenges in addressing the underlying causes of food loss and waste and will explore options for overcoming the main barriers (financial, technical, organizational, cultural, etc.) to implement solutions. Progress under the GCAA will be presented by showcasing actions and collaborations between state and non-state actors.

Venue: Room 1
Time: 16:45 - 18:15

Reducing the vulnerability of mountain and dryland ecosystems to climate change

This session will provide an overview of the complex relationship between land resources and climate change and the need for coherent and strategic responses.

Venue: tbc
Time: 18:00 - 19:30

Closing

Venue: Plenary Hall
Time: 19:30 - 20:00