Bonn 2012: UNCCD Calls for Agriculture to be Central to Rio+20
By Tierney Smith
RTCC in Bonn
Agriculture and a focus on land and soil should be central to both this year’s UNFCCC climate talks and the Earth Summit in June.
Home to around a third of the population, drylands account for 44% of cultivated land systems and 50% of its livestock – and yet poor land management and agricultural practices continue to be a major cause of desertification worldwide.
Speaking to RTCC, Sergio Zelaya from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) said he was pleased to see real work taking place at the conference on agriculture.
This year in Bonn sees agriculture considered and dealt with in an organised way within the UN climate process.
It is the first time the conference has dealt with “climate-safe” agriculture as a stand-alone item.
Under the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), meeting at the conference, countries were asked to submit and discuss their proposals on agriculture with the aim of adopting a decision on agriculture by COP18 this December.
“We [the UNCCD] think that the nexus between food security, water and energy should be completed,” Zelaya said. “And in the terms of food security and water, the issue of agriculture comes as a primary element.
“So we think now they are doing the right thing by including this other dimension.”
