Sharm El-Sheikh: An initiative led by the United States and the United Arab Emirates to help agriculture adapt to climate change and reduce emissions through innovation has doubled investment commitments to $8 billion and extended its reach, it said on Friday (November 11). The Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate) was launched one year ago and seeks to accelerate innovation in “climate smart” agriculture globally up to 2025, as the world races to contain global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
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At the COP27 climate change talks in Sharm el-Sheikh it announced commitments for $7 billion of investments from 42 governments, and $1 billion in innovation initiatives aimed at small-holder farmers in developing economies, new technologies, agro-ecological research and methane reduction.
Farming is on the frontline of extreme weather but is also a major contributor to global emissions that cause warming.
AIM will help farmers deal with challenges that have become more apparent this year, said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack: productivity losses linked to climate change, and higher input costs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
Thomas Vilsack told Reuters in a call,
think there’s an opportunity here for us – for the United States in particular – but for large scale agriculture, to help inform smallholders about the knowledge and information we’re getting about more efficient use, more precise use of fertilizer and other inputs which can lower costs for farmers and also without jeopardizing productivity.
Agriculture could get to net zero “a bit faster than maybe some of the other industries that are commonly discussed when we talk about climate,” he said.
I think there’s just tremendous carbon sequestration capacity, there’s tremendous opportunities to reduce methane, there’s tremendous opportunities to convert agricultural waste into a variety of products that would significantly reduce the greenhouse gas footprint of agricultural production.
Thomas Vilsack said the UAE, which imports about 80% of its food and will host the COP28 climate talks in 2023, wanted to help shore up production in food exporting countries as well as boosting self-reliance through innovation.
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
