They call it the COP warm-up

Last week, Anne Callaghan, SCIAF's Advocacy and Campaigns Officer, was  in Bonn in Germany for the preparatory conference on climate change, ahead of the big conference in Brazil later this year.

The conference continues until Thursday and it is a chance for countries to gather to pave the way so bigger political decisions can be made in Brazil when political leaders join.

For SCIAF, there are two issues of concern for us. These are agriculture and loss and damage.  

Overall, the global food production system produces a third of the world’s greenhouse gases: from the use of fossil fuel-based fertilisers; the way the land is cultivated which releases carbon; the use of livestock which releases methane gases; and the way food is transported and consumed or wasted. 

In lower income countries, people rely on their land to make a living, as well as feed themselves, their families, and communities. Yet these small farmers get little help in the face of increasing climate change impacts from floods or droughts destroying crops and land. Big agriculture companies dominate and ensure they get the vast majority of financial assistance from governments.  We’ve seen that the industrial model of agriculture has not addressed global food security as global hunger has risen.

SCIAF was in Bonn to champion a different model of agriculture - called agroecology - and it was encouraging to hear some countries echo those calls during sessions. Whilst there, I was also part of a Catholic delegation that talked to the Holy See about our concerns and asked them to speak out on key issues. We also held a side event on the issue that delegates could attend to hear more. On the discussion panel was a representative from the Africa Group of Negotiators – and he highlighted the importance of agroecology and how debt is making it harder for countries to invest in the supports their people need. That’s why SCIAF is part of a global campaign to cancel debt.

What’s amazing about Bonn and other spaces where climate is being negotiated, is the way that civil society groups look to work together in coalition in the face of overwhelming numbers of fossil fuel lobbyists or those supporting Big Agriculture businesses.

We need to work together in a coordinated way because of these vested interests. Getting these lobbyists to declare what their interests are and who is paying them would make things far more transparent, as a lot of them are part of government delegations. This is the analogy I always think of: it’s a bit like going to a health conference and it being packed with smoking company lobbyists making up the rules! This has to change. It’s also why it’s vital that organisations like SCIAF and others are there to push states to do the right thing.