Facing up to the impact of climate change

call for dedicated fund to help farmers cope with challenge

By Joe Watson

Published:

The creation of a dedicated fund to help farmers deal with the impact of climate change has been suggested by a group representing 124 agricultural organisations globally.

The Farming First coalition has floated its idea as world leaders prepare to gather in Copenhagen in December to discuss environmental issues and climate change.

NFU Scotland president Jim McLaren has, meanwhile, used the 34th North American and European Agriculture Conference in Ontario, Canada, to urge farming groups on both sides of the North Atlantic to work together to resolve problems and secure fairer returns for primary producers.

Farming First, made up of groups representing farmers, agronomists and scientists, has already put together a policy paper in which it puts forward various ideas to reduce carbon emissions from agriculture and boost output to feed a world where the population is expected to grow from the current 6.7billion to 9billion by 2050.

International Federation of Agricultural Producers secretary-general David King said: “If we don’t give farmers practical help to make their full contribution to fighting climate change, we will fail in Copenhagen. That is why Farming First wants world leaders to create a dedicated adaptation fund for agriculture to help farmers get the financial support they need to deal with the threats of climate change.”

The groups want more focus on agricultural best practice initiatives such as integrated crop management. They also want fertiliser applications to be better managed and greater investment in research and science.

They also want all scientific findings translated into easily-understood terms so farmers can cope with any challenges thrown up by a changing climate.

Thomas Rosswall, the chairman of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research challenge programme on climate change, agriculture and food security, said there were two demands if farmers are to respond.

Research and innovation would be needed to create new solutions to help boost farming productivity and yields. Farmers globally also required to make better use of existing technology and agricultural practices that have, in many instances, failed to reach them.

Mr McLaren warned further targets, restrictions and challenges for agriculture seemed the likely result of the December summit. But he added: “We must turn this attention on climate change to our advantage and promote the positives the farming industry has to offer by way of solutions. These positives greatly outweigh the negatives. It is time we focused on how our industry affects the climate. We require proportionate responses to the climate change challenge. Our industry is constantly improving its record on climate change and emissions but little measurement or appreciation of this is being factored in to current thinking.”