Forestry and agriculture are where poverty reduction, food security and climate change come together and must be addressed in an integrated fashion was the key message to negotiators from agriculture and forestry communities  at Cop 15, today.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and sequestering carbon from agriculture and forests must be an essential component of any strategy to keep global warming below the 2 degree Celsius threshold. Climate adaptation and mitigation measures must have multiple sustainable development benefits, including conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

The communities:

• Agree it is critical that food security be integrated in the shared vision of the Long Term Cooperative Action text, in order to open the door to adaptation and mitigation support;
• Urge climate negotiators to agree on the early establishment of an agricultural work program under the SBSTA;
• Look for agreement that REDD  include agriculture, forestry and other land uses;
• Believe that the LULUCF  accounting system needs to be favorable to agriculture.