Day 3 at Climate Talks: Climate change and land degradation: securing finance for rural poor for adaptation and mitigation

L-R: Alejandro Kilpatrick, the Global Mechanism; Menghestab Haile, World Food Programme; Robert Tippmann, EcoSecurities; Atiqur Rahman, IFAD; Luc Dubreuil, FAO; and Patrick van Laake, ITC.

Robert Tippmann, EcoSecurities, emphasized the importance of rural development in addressing both land degradation and climate change.

Luc Dubreuil, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), outlined FAO’s objectives of providing technical support to countries and ensuring food security, adding that desertification and climate change must be simultaneously addressed through adequately funded programmes.

Atiqur Rahman, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), gave an overview of IFAD’s work, and cautioned that climate change threatens poverty reduction gains achieved thus far. He noted that climate change has been commercialized and that this has increased the importance of working with the private sector.

Menghestab Haile, World Food Programme, stressed that climate change will affect poor people on marginal lands the most, and that one cannot discuss adaptation needs prior to addressing the basic food requirements.

Alejandro Kilpatrick, the Global Mechanism (GM), described the role of the GM in mobilizing resources in support of the UNCCD, noting a new 10-year strategic plan for the Convention.

Sabine Henders, EcoSecurities, explored potential synergies that could be realized in combating climate change and land degradation.

Bernhard Schlamadinger, TerraCarbon, called for the scope of the CDM to be greatly expanded, and described a range of desirable post-2012 projects.

Patrick van Laake, International Institute of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation, stressed that forests, agriculture and communities are intimately integrated, and noted ethical and pragmatic reasons for engaging with local communities.

Participants discussed: CDM methodologies; community involvement as an imperative for adaptation; and the appropriate role of private sector financing.

More information
http://www.ecosecurities.com
http://www.fao.org
http://www.ifad.org
http://www.wfp.org
http://www.globalmechanism.org
http://www.terracarbon.com

Contacts
Robert Tippmann <robert@ecosecurities.com>
Luc Dubreuil <luc.dubreuil@fao.org>
Atiqur Rahman <at.rahman@ifad.org>
Menghestab Haile <menghestab.haile@wfp.org>
Sabine Henders <sabine.henders@ecosecurities.com>
Alejandro Kilpatrick <a.kilpatrick@ifad.org>
Bernhard Schlamadinger <bernhard.schlamadinger@terracarbon.com>
Patrick van Laake <vanlaake@itc.nl>

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