I have finally set foot into Bella Center, where the UN Climate Conference (COP15) is taking place. I arrived here yesterday (Dec. 9). After a long queue to get a badge, I left my luggage and clothes in the huge cloakroom, walked through the endless exhibition hall and ended up bumping into two colleagues—pretty unlikely given how crowded the place is!
Everything here is quite overwhelming! The crowd, the venue, the number of official meetings and side-events...
And on agriculture? Well, since I've arrived 24 hours ago, I have already seen three different versions of the text on sectoral approaches and sector-specific actions in agriculture, and there are a lot of brackets still left—so many more versions of the text can be expected in the next few days. Contentious issues include:
- the consideration of food security in addressing agriculture's role in climate change mitigation,
- the role of trade and performance standards,
- the potential for increased efficiency and productivity of agriculture to help address agriculture's role in climate change mitigation.
One issue that does not seem to be discussed by official negotiators, but that I feel is problematic, is the involvement of non-governmental stakeholders in the upcoming work program on agriculture. Currently, the text opens the door only to submissions by Parties of their views on the content and scope of the work programme. IATP feels the process should be open to observer organizations too.
