TWN Info Service on Sustainable Agriculture
5 December 2023
Third World Network

Dear Friends and Colleagues

Financing Agroecological Transformations for Climate Repair

With agri-food systems responsible for close to 40% of total greenhouse gas emissions, food and farming need priority attention in government negotiations at COP 28. A rapid and substantial reduction in carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane emissions is urgently needed throughout the entire agri-food system and its global supply chains.

There is growing consensus that agroecological approaches offer huge potential – not only to cut emissions, but also to create many more active carbon sinks. When adopted at scale, they can:

• eliminate the need to use energy intensive inputs such as nitrogen fertilisers by designing agroecosystems to include nitrogen-fixing plants, green manures, and crop rotations to enhance and manage soil fertility
• reduce carbon footprints by re-localising production, processing and consumption within territories
• sequester and store large amounts of carbon in the soil and in woody plants by creating mosaics of agricultural areas and patches of wild biodiversity at multiple scales

A policy brief from the Research Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience at Coventry University calls on governments to mobilise finance for the large-scale transitions needed towards climate-friendly food and farming. This will involve switching funding and subsidy support from globalised, fossil-fuel intensive, long-distance linear supply chains to re-localised agri-food systems and reducing the gross inequalities associated with greenhouse gas emissions in and between countries.

In summary, it lists these five ways to finance agroecological transformations for climate repair:

• Fund agroecology R&D and disinvest from industrial agri-food systems.
• Redirect climate finance from greenwashing and false solutions.
• Fund transitions to low meat diets and agroecological livestock production.
• Mobilise additional finance for climate repair and equity.
• Finance democracy for climate repair. Mobilise finance to expand democracy and citizen participation in policy making.

The full paper is accessible here: https://www.coventry.ac.uk/globalassets/media/global/08-new-research-section/cawr/cawr-policy-briefs/cawr-policy-brief-2023-11—financing-agroecology-transformations-final.pdf

With best wishes,
Third World Network