Jyoti writes: “Honoured to have been able to speak on behalf of the farmer constituency at the opening plenary of COP 26 climate change negotiations in Glasgow yesterday. The farmers of the world are asking the Governments to recognise the impact of climate change on farmers and their ability to produce our food and are asking them to dedicate adequate finance in climate action plans towards agriculture.
The farmers constituency at COP 26 represents all farmers of the world, large and small. so is one of the trickiest constituencies to navigate consensus. As a representative of the constituency I am not free to say anything that everyone does not agree on, so we don’t say anything about which sort of agricullture we would like to see supported by Government finance. The farmers organisations who are members of La Via Campesina and Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa promote agroecology, but there are also larger farmers organisations in the Wolrd Farmers Organisation who are a part of the constituency and support more intensive agriculture. One thing we all agree on is that farmers are on the frontline of climate change.
Over the next 2 weeks I will be working with the constituency during the negotiations to put forward the position of farmers and do my best to make sure that the industrial farming lobby is blocked from promoting false solutions, like GM seeds, whilst promoting agroecological farming and forestry as part of the solution to regenerating the planet.”
COP26 opening plenary Statement by the Farmers Constituency
My name is Jyoti Fernandes, I am an agroecological farmer in Dorset, UK. I am speaking on behalf of the farmers constituency.
Our participation in this process is instrumental in raising global climate ambition for our sector, untapping the great potential that agriculture and its people have in the fight against climate change.
At the very minimum, we want to see the Paris Agreement implemented in full so that the necessary enabling framework and architectures move us forward towards a better future for the hundreds of millions of farmers across the world who are on the front line of this global climate emergency and for us all because we depend on the food they produce.
We want to see inclusive and ambitious NDCs that deliver on farmers’ needs and expectations; that lead to investment in research, innovation and technology transfer, in training and capacity building, and to ambitious financial frameworks to support a just transition and a dynamic agricultural sector. Only 15% of climate finance has been allocated to agriculture. This imbalance must be addressed.
This means that decisions must be made. Farmers understand the difficulty in making decisions in the face of complexity. They do this every day. They must because they know that the weather and the planet wait for no person.
We are the key to unlocking inclusive, equitable, sustainable and resilient food systems and economies with farmers of all shapes and sizes at their heart and which leave no farmer behind. Farmers’ organizations and agricultural cooperatives provide a strong foundation on which to build such success.
It is time for action and we, the farmers of the world, are ready to work with you for a successful outcome here in Glasgow. The future of our global food supply depends on it.