On Earth Day, IFOAM – Organics International urges governments to address the role industrial agriculture plays in damaging the earth and accelerating climate change. We call for the worldwide adoption of agroecological farming practices. Endeavors to limit global warming will otherwise be futile.
This year’s Earth Day sees the signing of the COP21 climate agreement, a global commitment to keep global warming well below 2°C and the pursuit of efforts to keep it under 1.5°C. For it to succeed, we have to deal with the fallout from industrial farming which is hurting the earth to the tune of $3.33 trillion per year. In addition, food production accounts for about half of all human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.
“Time is up for business as usual,” says Gábor Figeczky, Advocacy Manager at IFOAM – Organics International, “transitioning to organic agriculture is necessary to slash emissions from food production, safeguard ecosystems and protect the earth.”
To date policies have not adequately addressed the correlations between climate change, food security and protecting the earth’s resources. Caution is needed should legislators put forward land-based mitigation measures that focus on carbon offsetting. Such activities may have the potential to reduce overall emissions but at the expense of food security and biodiversity.
Thus agriculture and forest-related mitigation actions in the land sector should contribute to food security and tackle activities such as the use of harmful inputs that degrade soils, destroy ecosystems and exacerbate climate change. To protect the earth and try to keep global warming below 1.5°C, we need to adopt organic farming techniques that capture carbon in the soil, nourish ecosystems and reduce emissions.
“Failure to pursue actions in accordance with social and ecological considerations,” says Figeczky, “will have devastating impacts on farmers and food production, and could push millions into poverty.”
Farmers need to be equipped with the agroecological knowledge necessary to grow food, fight climate change and protect the earth.
Source: Notification from IFOAM from 22.04.2016