The NFU at #COP21: Day 2 - World Farmers Speak Out

The NFU's chief renewable energy and climate change adviser, Dr Jonathan Scurlock, reports from the #COP21 climate conference.

Today (Tuesday), FNSEA and IFOAM attended the launch of the French Government’s 4 per 1000 Initiative, which aims to raise soil organic carbon levels worldwide.

And WFO President Dr Evelyn Nguleka made a two-minute ‘intervention’ at the opening session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice, a key advisory body to the UN Conference. “Farmers face the twin challenge of producing enough food for the world’s growing population while ensuring the livelihoods of those whose subsistence depends on agricultural production,” she said. “The risks posed by climate change have a direct bearing on global food security and the development of the economies of our rural areas.”

Here in Paris, the NFU is helping to shape the voice of EU and worldwide farmers at the centre of the international stage. Future improvements in farm productivity and resilience will be essential if farmers are to produce more with less impact, feeding a growing population while remaining in the front line of climate change impacts.

As Christiana Figueres, head of the UN Climate Convention, put it in rather Churchillian terms at the start of COP21: "Never before has a responsibility so great been in the hands of so few. The world is counting on you."

Tomorrow (Wednesday) we will be reporting from the Farmers Day, which will highlight the importance of partnerships between farmers, scientists and the supply chain to deliver improvements in farm productivity and resilience.