Mid-Year Climate Talks Wrap Up With Agreement On Agriculture, Eyes On Bangkok

Mid-year climate talks have wrapped up in the former German capitol of Bonn with no negotiating text for year-end talks in Poland (COP 24), but continued agreement to fast-track the activities on agriculture.

Negotiators added an extra week of talks for September in Bangkok, Thailand to develop a negotiating text for COP 24.

On the bright side, the current text explicitly aligns agriculture and sustainable development, while creating a more streamlined negotiating process. This is critical because agriculture generates roughly 11 percent of all greenhouse-gas emissions, while small farmers are among those who will be hardest hit by climate change.

“Immediate climate action is needed as small-scale food producers, particularly women, are already facing climate impacts like changing rainfall patterns, shifting seasons, and extreme weather,” said Tonya Rawe, Global Policy Lead for Food and Nutrition Security, Care International. “We expect Parties to come to COP24 ready to agree on the outcomes they will deliver to catalyze action to safeguard food security and empower small-scale food producers facing climate impacts.”

Countries remained deadlocked on the critical issue of finance, especially with the United States taking its large slice of the pie off the table.

“Although the U.S. delegation remains active in the technical negotiations, President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and renege on the remaining $2 billion of the U.S. pledge to the Green Climate Fund has hampered their effectiveness,” said Alden Meyer,  director of strategy and policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists. “It’s clear other countries must now provide the leadership needed to get the ambitious outcomes desired at the Katowice climate summit this December.”