Empty global climate deal leaves agriculture behind

Cancun, Mexico – A watered-down United Nations climate deal reached early this morning missed another opportunity to support climate-resilient agriculture and global food security, according to the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).

Climate change demands a new way to feed the world

REMARKS OF JIM HARKNESS, PRESIDENT, IATP DIÁLOGO CLIMÁTICO, CANCÚN, MEXICO Cancún, December 5, 2010 — I would first like to thank our Mexican hosts and say what an honor it is to appear with such an inspiring group of farm leaders from around the world.

A Farm Bill for a Cooler Climate

Agriculture offers a two-fold benefit for the climate: as a place to reduce direct emissions and as a carbon sink. Many farmers have already adopted more climate-friendly agriculture practices, stimulated in part by programs in the 2008 Farm Bill.

Financing Agriculture Adaptation to Climate Change: A Modest Beginning

President Obama’s climate-related diplomatic capacity in Cancún will be severely limited by incoming and current members of the U.S. Congress who consider climate change science too uncertain to serve as a basis for economic policy change or simply a fraudulent conspiracy to undermine the U.S. economy.

Grain Reserves: A Smart Climate Adaptation Policy

Consider these four developments: 1.) Climate change is having a profound effect on current and anticipated food production; 2.) Those effects are expected to be greatest in some of the world’s most impoverished regions, particularly in the countries that sit around the equator; 3.) The anticipated effects of climate change, coupled with the already evident disruptions to natural phenomena, inc

Governments at Cancún climate talks need to support local solutions

Cancun, Mexico – Governments attending the global climate talks in Cancún, which begin today, need to abandon loophole-ridden carbon markets and support bottom-up climate solutions that integrate equity, food security and democratic participation, according to the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).

Climate and Agriculture Series: Cancun

At the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations in Cancun, Mexico, governments will decide whether to expand the role that agriculture plays within global climate talks.

Why Carbon Trading Can't Solve Our Water Crisis

A New York Time opinion article argues that one of the best ways to ensure that the world's poorest have access to water is through carbon trading. IATP's Shiney Varghese explains why that is incorrect.

Agriculture in the climate talks

The climate negotiations in China where countries finished negotiating for six days (October 4–9) wrapped up just over a week ago. This was countries' last chance to reach common ground for major decisions on global warming before the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) holds its 16th conference of the parties (COP 16) in less than two months in Cancún, Mexico.

IATP applaudes Stonyfield farm's purchase of Working Landscapes Certificates

The Working Landscapes Certificates (WLC) program rewards farmers by linking sustainable corn production with bioplastics. Through Stonyfield's purchase of WLC's, the company is providing support for both sustainable corn production and as the world's largest organic yogurt producer is supporting a better line of plastic to use with their products.