Climate Change

Behind closed doors–the vulnerability of big meat production

This blog first appeared as a contribution to #Livestockdebate hosted by the European coalition ARC2020 (Agriculture and Rural Convention 2020). You can read contributions to the #Livestockdebate from other experts at the ARC2020 website.

Plotting the course: COP21 and agriculture

When the text of a new global climate agreement reached by 195 governments was released this weekend, one word was conspicuously absent: agriculture.

Don't talk about "trade" at the global climate talks

Earlier this week, a leaked internal European Union document on climate negotiation priorities (posted by Corporate Observatory Europe) made clear that any global climate deal would not mention trade.

4 things we’re tracking as Paris climate negotiations hit the home stretch

Paris - After four years of negotiations, countries from around the world aim to complete a new global climate deal in the next week. A new 48-page draft text was circulated this weekend and there will be a lot of horse-trading and late nights in the coming week. Here are a few of the key issues we’ll be tracking: Can national climate commitments become stronger?

The Clever Ambiguity of Climate Smart Agriculture

Paris – The term “climate smart agriculture” (CSA) is popping up frequently in the official events of the global climate talks here in Paris. But what climate smart agriculture actually means seems to depend on who’s talking. In fact, the term has entered into an Orwellian space of meaning both everything and nothing simultaneously.

What to make of the soil carbon initiative launched in Paris

Paris – Yesterday at the global climate talks, France and about 30 other country leaders, research institutions and a handful of NGOs launched a much anticipated new

Rural Climate Policy Priorities

The intent of this working document is to describe climate change concerns specific to rural communities in the United States and identify policy approaches that are supportive of on-the-ground solutions. It reflects ideas and input from Rural Climate Network member organizations and other rural organizations, leaders and experts in the U.S.

U.S. rural leaders and advocates release climate change policy priorities

MINNEAPOLIS, MN/PARIS, FRANCE – Rural organizations, leaders and experts in the U.S. outlined the challenges climate change poses to rural communities and a set of policy priorities, “Rural Climate Policy Priorities: Solutions from the Ground,” released today during the first week of global climate talks in Paris.

Agroecology, the expertise coffee needs

Oscar Omar Alonzo Aguilar farms coffee on a plot of land alongside his brother in Honduras. Oscar’s field is on the left; his brother’s field is on the right. Why is Oscar’s coffee thriving while his brother’s crop struggles?

Contribution to Africa Regional Meeting on Agroecology

Minneapolis, November 17, 2015 — Agroecology has been growing on national and international agendas, ranging from the 2012 decree on agroecology of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, to the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Agroecology, to the 2014 International Symposium on Agroecology for Food Security and Nutrition held by t