The main focus of the meeting of the Round Table on Organic Agriculture and Climate Change was to discuss ways to best assess the potential contribution organic agriculture has to mitigate climate change. The workshop summary along with the presentations of the participants are available on the RTOACC homepage www.organicandclimate.org. Various obstacles and solutions to these obstacles were discussed resulting in the following conclusions:
- A consistent database on the mitigation potential of organic agriculture will be established. The main data gaps are related to emissions and sequestration levels from specific inputs, techniques and total cropping systems, where assignment of the mitigation potential to single crops and techniques is difficult.
- A task force on strengthening the information exchange on GHG emissions and carbon sequestration in organic agriculture among the members of the RTOACC and also in the wider organic community will be established.
- The available instruments of the regulated carbon offset markets like Clean Development Market (CDM) and Joint implementation (JI) are not well adapted to agriculture. Nevertheless, there is potential for new or improved methodologies for composting, fertilizer avoidance, avoided biomass burning, agro- forestry and bio-gas production. The RTOACC will establish a task force for further development of these methodologies aimed at meeting the high standards for the voluntary carbon market, but not necessarily the standards of the CDM.
- The RTOACC established a steering board to coordinate and implement the activities of the RTOACC. As of now, it has the following composition:
- FiBL, contact person: Andreas Gattinger
- ICEA, contact person: Paolo Foglia
- SEAE, contact person: Eduardo Aguilera-Fernández
- Louis Bolk Institute, contact person: Sjef Staps
- ICROFS, contact person: Lise Andreasen
Background info to the Roundtable on Organic Agriculture and Climate Change:
Climate change directly influences food production and food security. To address these new challenges, a multi-stakeholder initiative on organic agriculture was established on December 16, 2009 at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. The initiative, with the name Round Table on Organic Agriculture and Climate Change (RTOACC), brings together stakeholders and partners along the organic food production chain to discuss the potential of organic farming to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
The round table is comprised of various organizations within the organic agriculture sector, including persons working in research, consulting, and certification. During 2010, the main activity of the round table is to develop a methodology for the carbon market. This includes addressing the state of knowledge regarding the mitigation potential of organic agriculture, looking at the benefits emissions trading could bring to smallholder farmers, and addressing the potential organic agriculture has in the carbon market as a whole.
Further information
Contact
- FiBL contact: Andreas Gattinger
Links and documents
- OrganicandClimate.org: Homepage of the Round Table of Organic Agriculture and Climate Change
- OrganicandClimate.org: Workshop summary document
- OrganicandClimate.org: Workshop papers