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Ecoagriculture Partners PES Newsletter
February 9, 2010

Table of Contents

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  Advisory Group
Michael Bennett, Forest Trends, China

Andrew Bovarnik, UNDP/GEF, Panama

Sally Collins,
Former Director of USDA Office of Environmental Markets, Fellow at Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI)

Fabrice DeClerck, Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE), Costa Rica

Dennis Garrity, World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), Kenya

Leslie Lipper, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Italy

Mikitaro Shobayashi, Gakushuin Women's College, Japan
Commentary Market and Policy Developments
    Resources
      Announcements and Opportunities

      Commentary

      Agriculture in Copenhagen
      The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen - in side events and in the negotiating rooms - significantly advanced efforts to integrate agriculture and sustainable land management (SLM) into the global climate change agenda. Conceptual and political linkages between agricultural mitigation, adaptation and food security solidified, and governments made substantial commitments to moving agriculture/climate change work forward.

      In this newsletter, particularly in the International subsection under Policy and Law, we highlight the developments from Copenhagen that are likely to have the most impact on agricultural greenhouse gas markets. These include a review of the latest UNFCCC negotiating text; the emergence of NGOs advocating on behalf of an Agriculture/Farmer agenda, particularly the International Federation of Agricultural producers (IFAP); a proliferation of side events on agriculture and climate change in Copenhagen, including the first Agriculture and Rural Development Day to run parallel to an UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP); the beginnings of a coalition between the Forestry and Agriculture communities within the UNFCCC, as evidenced by a jointly organized event and statement by the organizers of Forestry and Agriculture Day; and the coalescing of a Party-led Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases.

      These developments represent a way station on the road towards a yet to be determined destination for agriculture within the international climate change discourse. In future issues of this newsletter, we will continue to track its progress. As the agricultural PES communities of practice maintain their focus on carbon and climate change, we will also continue to report on the developments within the watershed and biodiversity-related ecosystem service markets, and the ways in which they interact with each other and with the burgeoning agricultural carbon markets. Back To Top
       

      » Carbon

      Action for climate change from the global and US dairy industries
      The Global Dairy Agenda for Action has been developed with input from across the dairy supply chain and from a wide range of dairy producing countries, including developing countries, and was signed at the World Dairy Summit in Berlin on September 24, 2009. Signed by seven organizations on behalf of the world’s dairy associations and companies, the Global Dairy Agenda for Action is an industry pledge to reduce carbon emissions as part of its contribution to help address global warming. This pledge builds on past performance to address climate change.

      The US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and the Innovation Center for US dairy announced an agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2020 and to accelerate adoption of innovative manure to energy projects on dairy farms in Copenhagen on December 15th.
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      World Bank Biocarbon Fund submits methodology on Sustainable Agricultural Land Management
      One of the primary reasons that few agricultural carbon projects have been developed is a lack of approved methodologies. The Sustainable Agricultural Land Management (SALM) methodology submitted by the World Bank Biocarbon Fund to the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) will be the first of its kind. This methodology would allow for the estimation and monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions for project activities that reduce emissions by applying sustainable land management practices in agricultural landscapes. These would include carbon stock enhancement in above and below ground soil carbon pools. The methodology is based on the project activity Western Kenya Smallholder Agriculture Carbon Finance Project in Kenya.

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      New program to use text messages to trade carbon offsets
      One of the most daunting hurdles for the trade in carbon offsets is the logistical challenge of connecting customers - typically carbon dioxide emitting companies based in America or Europe - with offset producers in places like South America, Asia, and Africa. The Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs is working to solve this problem by utilizing text messaging systems.  Under this system, small Ethiopian farmers, for example, would measure the diameters of trees on their land twice a year and put the information into a text message, which, along with each farmer’s unique identification code, is then sent to the regional Watershed Users’ Association office.  Software computes the amount of carbon stored on each farm as well as the change from the previous measurement; any increase in stored carbon dioxide is converted into cash using the going rate of CO2 on international markets, and farmers are paid by their local association.

      Read more here from the New York Times.
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      Simplot and Blue Source partner to engage US farmers on agricultural carbon
      J.R. Simplot Company, an Idaho-based food and agribusiness leader, and Blue Source LLC, an emissions-reduction project developer, have announced the formation of an alliance to engage American farmers in carbon markets.  The two companies will help farmers identify opportunities and implement activities dealing with reduced emissions from sustainable farming.  Projects will include reduced tillage, preservation of grassland, and nutrient management.  This partnership will offer farmers a new toolkit for capturing the benefits of emissions reductions, from the early stages of data collection to the final offset sale.

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      McDonald's launches major study to cut cows emissions in the UK
      Fast-food chain McDonald’s has launched a three-year project that would explore ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions from cows. The burger giant, which uses beef from 350,000 cattle a year, will study methane emissions from cattle across 350 UK farms.

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      » Water

      CARE-WWF payments for watershed services projects with small farmers progress in Tanzania and Kenya
      In early 2008, CARE International and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) initiated a project in the Uluguru Mountains of Tanzania to bring watershed services payments to farmers.  Now in its implementation phase, the Equitable Payments for Watershed Services program has enrolled 450 farmers to implement land use projects including reforestation and soil conservation. The Dar es Salaam Water and Sewage Corporation (DAWASCO) and Coca Cola Kwanza Limited will pay between US$30 and $280 per hectare per year to the farmers, depending on project type, rewarding them for improving their land use practices and ensuring a cleaner water supply. Following the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between buyers and sellers, the first payments are expected shortly.

      CARE and WWF are working on a similar project in the Lake Naivasha basin in Kenya to compensate upstream farmers for improving water quality for downstream water users. The Naivasha scheme was initiated with a feasibility assessment that determined project viability in terms of potential ecosystem services for sellers and buyers; analyzed land use and its impact on water quantity and sediment load; and identified and recommended sub-catchment target hot spots suitable for a payment for watershed services project.  WWF and CARE Kenya have now sensitized the potential sellers and buyers to the payments for watershed services concept and prepared a draft contract with the two parties, pending endorsement, by the sellers (land owners) and the downstream buyers that include the Lake Naivasha Growers Group (LNGG) and Lake Naivasha Riparian Association (LNRA). The program is currently supporting land managers to implement the recommended land use interventions and livelihood improvement activities. An area of 360,000 square meters is under conservation (grass strips and trees, especially agroforestry species). 510 farms were marked (300 farms in Geta/Wanjohi and 210 farms at Upper Turasha/Kinja) with 475 mapped. Distribution of conservation materials for planting has begun to the farmers whose farms were marked and mapped.

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      New initiative aims to save the Papagayo river in Mexico
      EcoLogic and the Regional Council of Sierra de Guerrero (CRESIG) have brought together a wide range of stakeholders, from academics to community leaders to government representative, to protect the Papagayo River. The group considers a watershed payments scheme to be a promising idea for the river, but a major challenge facing them is how to get the more affluent residents of Acapulco to pay the poorer communities of the Sierra de Guerrero for ensuring that the quantity and quality of water that reaches their city will remain high. They are now defining who exactly will be providing the watershed service and in what form it would come. They are also developing the institutional support structure for the providers to implement the necessary land management changes.

      Read more about it here.

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      Australian water market sets trading record
      According to a report from the National Water Commission (NWC), reported on by the Sydney Morning Herald, Australia’s water market traded at 1800 billion liters of water entitlements in 2008, higher than ever before and almost double the amount from the previous year. Total trades came to $2.2 billion and a 162% increase in dollar terms over 2007. The southern connected Murray-Darling river basin was once again at the heart of Australian water trading, accounting for 60% of entitlements and 81% of allocations. But, entitlement trades were also higher in areas outside of the basin, particularly in Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania. The commission believes that more can still be done to stimulate water trades, including the removal of the annual 4% limit on permanent trade of entitlements out of irrigation districts and encouraging entitlement trades between the states.

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      » Biodiversity

      Willamette Partnership ecosystem trading schemes allows for the 'stacking' of credits
      Caroline Ott, of the Ecosystem Marketplace, explores The Willamette Partnership’s first-of-its kind marketplace for ecosystem services that allows landowners to cash in on properties generating more than one ecosystem benefit.  The Willamette Partnership is a non-profit organization with the mission of expanding the pace, scope, and effectiveness of restoration in Northwestern Oregon’s Willamette Basin.  Its “Counting on the Environment” program, funded by a grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, develops tools for land managers to participate in emerging ecosystem service markets.  In August, the group passed a major milestone as twenty-five stakeholders reached a consensus on its General Crediting Protocol.  The protocol gives landowners a single process to follow in the generation of four ecosystem credit types: salmonid habitat, upland prairie habitat, wetland, and water quality/temperature. This is one of the first efforts to develop a multi-credit marketplace.
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      » Business and Supply Chains

      Carbon emissions begin to appear on food labels in Sweden
      New labels listing the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the production of foods, from whole wheat pasta to fast food burgers, are appearing on some grocery items and restaurant menus around Sweden. Some of the proposed new dietary guidelines, released over the summer, may seem startling to the uninitiated. They recommend that Swedes favor carrots over cucumbers and tomatoes, for example. (Unlike carrots, the latter two must be grown in heated greenhouses in Sweden, consuming energy.) They are not counseled to eat more fish, despite the health benefits, because Europe’s stocks are depleted. And somewhat less surprisingly, they are advised to substitute beans or chicken for red meat, in view of the heavy greenhouse gas emissions associated with raising cattle. If the food guidelines were religiously heeded, some experts say, Sweden could cut its emissions from food production by 20 to 50%.

      Read more here from the New York Times

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      Kraft foods to purchase 30,000 tons of Rainforest Alliance-certified cocoa by 2012
      Kraft Foods has launched the first mainstream chocolate products in Europe to carry the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal. The global food company has also committed to increase its current purchases of cocoa beans from Rainforest Alliance-certified farms ten-fold by the end of 2012, to 30,000 tons. Since 2005, Kraft Foods has been working with the Rainforest Alliance, together with leading development organizations in Germany and the U.S. - Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) - as well as with cocoa trader, Armajaro, to support sustainable cocoa production in Cote d’Ivoire, West Africa. This project, the “Market-Oriented Promotion of Sustainable Certified Cocoa Production” project, has enabled six Ivorian cooperatives, representing over 2,000 farmers in the Daloa/Issia and Abengourou areas, to earn the Rainforest Alliance-certified seal. As a result, the last crop year improved yields and made significant productivity gains, in some cases above 50%, according to the project. The incidence of cocoa ‘black pod’ disease was also reduced by one third and farmer incomes have improved.

      Read more here from Environmental Leader.
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      Certified sustainable palm oil trade exceeds 250,000 tons
      More than 250,000 tons (metric tons) of certified sustainable palm oil have been purchased since it became available late last year, indicating the emergence of a market for sustainable palm oil. From September to November alone, more than 100,000 tons of palm oil or corresponding certificates were acquired by companies globally. The rise in sales of sustainable palm oil coincides with a growing number of companies publicly pledging to fully switch to sustainable palm oil within a certain time frame - most by 2015 - as all RSPO members are required to do.

      Read more here from Environmental Leader.

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      » International

      In Copenhagen, the profile of Agriculture rises
      Despite the UNFCCC negotiations’ well-documented difficulties, and the fact that the brief Copenhagen Accord does not mention agriculture explicitly, the two weeks of discussions improved agriculture’s relative position within the UNFCCC process overall. Until the Copenhagen Accord was reached, the UNFCCC negotiating process had been running on two tracks, the Ad-Hoc Working Group on Long Term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA) and the Ad-Hoc Working Group on the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP). Neither of these documents has been finalized.  Agriculture issues have been more integrated into the AWG-LCA discussions, and the draft contains some key elements.

      The draft that came out of COP-15 made a specific reference to the importance of food security in addressing climate change, recognized the link between agriculture and food security, and acknowledged the relationship between climate adaptation and mitigation. The mandate of the AWG-LCA will continue in 2010, and negotiators will take it up again in June, in Bonn, Germany, with a goal of completing negotiations at COP 16 in Mexico in November.

      There was also significant, concrete progress on the development and support of a research agenda for agriculture and climate change. There was movement on a request for SBSTA (Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice) to establish a program of work on agriculture by June 2010, which is likely but not yet finalized.

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      Farmers are granted official status within the UNFCCC
      The UNFCCC granted the request from the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) for Farmers, as an organized group, for official status within the Convention. Subject to a 1 1/2 year trial period, the status includes privileges such as a dedicated Farmers office at UNFCCC meetings, access and speaking slots in restricted plenary sessions. This recognition indicates that the UNFCCC secretariat believes that farmers and agriculture will be play a significant role in the Convention in the future. IFAP has been a very effective advocate for the agriculture and farmers agendas under the UNFCCC.

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      First-ever Agriculture and Rural Development Day joins increasingly visible group of agriculture related side events in Copenhagen
      During the two weeks of COP-15, Copenhagen saw a flurry of agriculture-related side events. Most significantly, for the first time, an Agriculture and Rural Development Day was organized alongside a UNFCCC COP to highlight agriculture and climate change connections.  A group of more than 350 policy makers, farmers and scientists gathered to discuss the ways in which the agricultural community can support climate change efforts while improving farmers’ capacity to feed a growing global population. A Statement of Outcomes and other useful information and perspectives on the Day can be found at the event website. The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) Reporting Services has also compiled a thorough summary of the day.

      The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was the lead organizer of another significant high-level side event, Climate Change and Food Security: Unifying Commitment and Action in Land-Based Sectors which included the Director-General of FAO, the President of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) the Secretary of the US Department of Agriculture, the Minister of Food Agriculture and Fisheries, Denmark, and the Director of the Brazilian National Institute of Space Research (INPE). The meeting opened with the signing of an agreement between FAO and INPE to work together in the field of emissions measuring and reporting, and all panelists agreed that the agricultural sector needs to play a larger role in climate change mitigation and adaptation.
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      Agriculture and Forestry climate agendas draw closer
      COP-15 drew the forest and agriculture agendas within international climate change politics more closely together. 1,500 people attended Forest Day 3, which included high profile speakers including Gro Harlem Brundtland, Nicholas Stern, Yvo de Boer, Bill Clinton (via satellite) and Nobel laureates Elinor Ostrom, Ravendra Pachauri and Wangari Maathai. This event helped to propel the REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) agenda forward within the negotiations which broke through to become one of the few major success stories in Copenhagen. There is still, however, confusion about what exactly will be included within REDD+, and to what extent it will cover agricultural activities.

      Nonetheless, the outcomes from Agriculture and Rural Development Day and Forest Day were fed into a joint UNFCCC side event entitled Beyond Copenhagen: Agriculture and Forestry are Part of the Solution. This event was a positive indication that agriculture and forestry communities may speak with a more coordinated voice in the future. The organizing group presented a joint statement in which they:

      •    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.

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      Research Alliance for Agricultural Greenhouse Gases forms in Copenhagen, but faces scrutiny
      Outside of the UNFCCC process, 23 countries including Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, India and the United States, among others, have pledged to join a New-Zealand-initiated Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases. The global partnership is expected to work on cheaper and more accurate methods of measuring greenhouse gas emissions and carbon stored in soil; new farming practices that reduce emissions and increase carbon storage in farmland in different countries; and farming methods that sustain yields while helping to mitigate climate change. The first meeting of this group will be in New Zealand in early April.  The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), however, worries that the Alliance may end up reproducing a the kind of research agenda that lead to the vulnerabilities of our current agricultural system, and it calls for the group to recognize the potential of low-input, sustainable farming.



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      » Australia

      Australian farmers to be exempt from greenhouse gas cap while benefiting from carbon trading
      Australia's emissions-trading scheme has been delayed in the Senate where the government lacks a majority. In order to secure the support of opposition lawmakers, it has been under pressure to give more concessions to both farmers and heavy industry. Climate Change Minister Penny Wong, in an attempt to win over the opposition, said the farm sector would be exempt from paying for its emissions, which account for about 16% of the nation's total, and that farmers might be allowed to generate and sell carbon credits. This system, inline with what is planned in the US, Europe and Japan is "all carrot and no stick" for agriculture. Industry officials argue that these conditions will stimulate improvements in grain production through better land management practices.

      Read more here from Reuters.

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      » Canada

      Agricultural carbon sequestration emerging as new industry for Alberta farmers
      Thousands of Alberta farmers are producing provincially sanctioned carbon credits, and making money on them. The government-approved credit-generating agricultural techniques, including a suite of practices such as no-till, minimum-tillage, and reducing the manure produced by cattle, are opening up a slew of new business opportunities for farmers. But they're also raising questions about the science behind the credits and just how effective the practices really are in reducing greenhouse gases.

      Read more here from the Calgary Herald. 

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      » United States

      American Farm Bureau rallies to block climate legislation
      All farmers organizations are not created equally in the US. While the National Farmers Union has been generally supportive of climate legislation, and as been an active aggregator of agricultural carbon credits for the Chicago Climate Exchange, the American Farm Bureau (AFB) is mobilizing a campaign against climate action. 369 delegates at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting unanimously approved a special resolution to strongly oppose "cap and trade proposals before Congress" and strongly support "any legislative action that would suspend (the Environmental Protection Agency's) authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act." The meeting also included a presentation by climate change skeptic, Chritoher Horner, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, entitled “Global Warming: A Red Hot Lie?”

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      Resources

      » Research and Publications

      FAO launches report on food security and climate change in developing countries
      During the UNFCCC Barcelona Climate Change Talks in November, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched a report, Food Security and Agricultural Mitigation in Developing Countries: Options for Capturing Synergies, that argues that the twin battles to improve food security for a growing world population and contain climate change can be fought on the same front – the world’s farmland. According to FAO, agriculture not only suffers the impacts of climate change, it is also responsible for 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions. But agriculture has the potential to be an important part of the solution, through mitigation – reducing and/or removing – a significant amount of global emissions, FAO says. Some 70% of this mitigation potential could be realized in developing countries.
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      FAO reports examine the potential of organic agriculture and grasslands to mitigate climate change
      The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has released reports examining the potential for organic agriculture and sustainable management of grasslands to mitigate climate change. The report on organic agriculture, Organic Agriculture and Carbon Sequestration: Possibilities and constraints for the consideration of organic agriculture within carbon accounting systems, discusses the ways in which organic systems can meet carbon accounting requirements, including permanence, leakage and additionality, and how organic agriculture might be treated under existing carbon accounting standards. The report advocates for the development of guidelines for measurement and verification strategies suitable for organic agriculture and the development of pilot programs.

      The second paper, Review of Evidence on Drylands Pastoral Systems and Climate Change, explains that grasslands have vast untapped potential to mitigate climate change by absorbing and storing CO2, and that this could be greater than forests if properly managed. Covering some 30% of the earth’s ice-free land surface and accounting for 70% of its agricultural land, the world’s 3.4 billion ha of grasslands can also play a major role in supporting the adaptation and reducing the vulnerability to climate change of over one billion people who depend on livestock for a living.

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      Studies predict positive impacts of climate change legislation for US farmers
      A University of Tennessee study analyzing the impact of climate change legislation on US agriculture, The Analysis of the Implications of Climate Change and Energy Legislation to the Agricultural Sector, finds that net returns for virtually all major crops are positive under a properly constructed cap-and-trade program. However, the study goes on to show that if carbon emissions are regulated by EPA as prescribed under a 2007 Supreme Court ruling, net farm income is projected to fall below baseline projections.

      A Working Paper from Duke University, The Effects of Low-carbon Policies on Net Farm Income, similarly finds that the net result for US agriculture of cap and trade legislation would be positive. This study estimates the net farm income implications of moving to a low-carbon economy would include higher input costs, higher output prices, modest consumer response, increased bioenergy supply, and offset income opportunities.

      Back To Top
       
      Australian scientists researching burp-less livestock
      Australian scientists hold out hope that breeding a burp-less sheep can help the country reduce its emissions. About two-thirds of Australia’s agricultural greenhouse emissions are produced from the guts of grazing livestock such as sheep and cattle. Scientists are testing different strains of sheep to find out which belch less methane. The Sheep Co-operative Research Centre is conducting a world-first study into about 700 sheep with 20 different genetic lines – each is fed, then shepherded into a booth where scientists measure their burp outputs. If a particular gene controls can be found for methane production, breeders may be able to select sheep that belch less and less methane. They also are considering a similar program for cattle.

      Read more here from the Herald Sun.
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      Study finds that agricultural emissions in Europe far exceed biocarbon sinks
      A study published in Nature Geoscience found that emissions from farming in Europe wiped out the region's entire carbon sink benefit from trees and plants. The European Union forests, grasses and soil sucked 125 million tons of carbon out of the atmosphere annually from 2000 to 2005. That offset some 12% of just over one billion tons of carbon emissions from fossil fuels. But when agriculture was added, the net effect was the emission of 34 million ton of carbon equivalent into the atmosphere. The study’s lead author advocates for agricultural emissions to be capped in any carbon trading scheme. 

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      World Bank publishes note on reduced emissions and enhanced adaptation in agricultural landscapes
      The World Bank has published a note emphasizing the role of good agricultural practices and integrated natural resource management in addressing both mitigation and adaptation to climate change in production landscapes. The note focuses on the role of good agricultural practices in protecting existing stocks of soil carbon in croplands, peatlands and wetlands; replenishing soil and biomass carbon and improving productivity in degraded lands; and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from crop and grazing land.
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      Ecoagriculture Partners Chapter on 'Paying for biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes' published
      EP’s Sara J. Scherr, Jeffrey C. Milder and Seth Shames have written a chapter on Paying for Biodiversity Conservation in Agricultural Landscapes in a new book, Agriculture, Biodiversity and Markets, edited by Stewart Lockie and David Carpenter, in which they cover the rationale for paying farmers for biodiversity conservation, potential buyers, types of biodiversity conservation services farmers can provide, potential benefits and risks to farmers, barriers to widespread use of biodiversity payments, and ways to scale up biodiversity PES in agricultural landscapes.

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      » Tools

      Sustainable Food Lab and SAI Platform launch 'Cool Farm Tool' to assess opportunities for climate-friendly farming
      At least a dozen companies representing the Sustainable Food Lab and the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform are teaming up to estimate the greenhouse gas footprint of specific farming systems and to talk with farmers to figure out how to reduce that footprint as rapidly and efficiently as possible. This estimation tool, the 'Cool Farm Tool', will be applied over the next 12-15 months to help companies and farmers understand the most effective mechanisms for reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.

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      Dairy Sustainability Initiative website now online
      The Dairy Sustainability Initiative website has been launched to share best practices, promote environmentally focused initiatives and improve overall climate performance of the dairy sector. It was launched immediately after signing the Global Dairy Agenda for Action--an industry declaration to reduce carbon emissions as part of its contribution to help address global warming. The site hosts a major initiative called the ‘Green Paper,’ which catalogues initiatives that demonstrate progress along the whole of the dairy supply chain. The site also includes information about the Global Dairy Agenda for Action, climate change fact sheets, as well as scientific publications and a press room.

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      The Ecosystem Services Benchmark tool available from the Natural Value Initiative
      Developed by through a collaboration of the UNEP Finance Initiative, Fauna and Flora International and Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), Ecosystem Services Benchmark is a tool for investors to assess the management of biodiversity and ecosystem services risks and opportunities in companies with agricultural supply chains.

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      World Resources Institute explains ecosystem credit stacking
      A new resource from the World Resources Institute (WRI) provides an overview of the terminology, opportunities, and potential pitfalls surrounding ecosystem credit stacking. WRI explains that stacking occurs when “a project receives payments from different programs for more than one of the ecosystem services that are generated.” For example, a farmer cutting back on fertilizer use will reduce both air and water pollution, meaning she can potentially generate carbon and water quality credits. The big and often controversial question is whether it is justifiable to award multiple credits for the same patch of land.

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      » Learning Networks

      FAO and EP hold DC roundtable assessing outcomes from Copenhagen on Agriculture and Climate Change
       Ecoagriculture Partners (EP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) hosted a roundtable to discuss the outcomes at the Copenhagen Summit and in the 15th Conference of the Parties as part of an Agriculture and Climate Change Discussion Series on Monday January 11, 2010 at Conservation International in Arlington, Virginia. The session began with comments from Leslie Lipper, Senior Environmental Economist at FAO, who talked about the presence (or absence) of agriculture in the negotiations and side events.  Next, Fred Boltz, Senior Vice-President, Global Strategies Climate Change at Conservation International, spoke about REDD+ and forest conservation as a part of the negotiations.  The others participants then shared their experiences in the side events and negotiations, and discussed outcomes including the Copenhagen Accord, the Green Fund, the Adaptation Fund, and the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases. Participants also discussed the implications of the US climate legislation process for the international negotiations.

      For information about future FAO-EP roundtables, please contact Sarah Fulton at sarah.fulton@fao.org. Back To Top
       
      CGIAR launches rural climate exchange blog connecting agricultural and environmental science to the climate change agenda
      The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)   and their partners generate a wealth of knowledge that can better enable   rural people in developing countries to mitigate climate change and   adapt to its impacts. The have launched a rural climate exchange blog to help bring such knowledge to light, so it can better serve global efforts to cope with climate change. Back To Top
       

      Announcements and Opportunities

      Africa Carbon Forum, Nairobi, Kenya, March 3-5, 2010


      The African Carbon Forum is a trade fair and knowledge sharing platform for carbon investments in the region. It brings together representatives from designated national authorities (DNA), national focal points, representatives from several UN agencies, governments and the private sector.  It includes matchmaking and deal facilitation sessions that will enable potential CDM project participants and developers to showcase their projects to interested parties, including investors and carbon buyers.

      For more information and registration, please visit the Africa Carbon Forum 2010 website.

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      Henry A. Wallace/CATIE Inter-American Scientific Conference Series, 6th Conference, Turrialba, Costa Rica September 20-24, 2010, Agrobiodiversity in Mesoamerica from genes to landscapes
      The aim of this conference is to strengthen the use and management of agrobiodiversity in Mesoamerica by bringing together international research and public sector organizations, universities and civil society to study, analyze and take action to promote sustainable land management, in recognition of the International Year of Biodiversity in 2010, as declared by the United Nations. The conference will link science, practical action and policy to address the challenge of loss of agricultural biodiversity in Mesoamerica.

      For more information, contact Fabrice DeClerck, CATIE, fdeclerck@catie.ac.cr, + (506) 2558-2596.

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      US Biochar Initiative Conference 2010 to be hosted by Iowa State University on June 27–30, 2010
      The Biochar Initiative Conference is designed to advance the understanding of the science and policy issues related to biochar as both an agent for carbon sequestration as well as an amendment for soils. Scientists, engineers, policymakers, policy analysts, producers, and users will attend to discuss recent advances. A call for presentation and poster abstracts now open with a deadline for submission of February 1, 2010.

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      PEPA project looking to partner with watersheds in the US
      The primary goal of PEPA (Performance-based Environmental Policies for Agriculture), a project of Winrock International in conjunction with the University of Vermont and Iowa State University Extension, is to help improve environmental quality and the cost-effectiveness of agricultural nonpoint source pollution (NSP) control by facilitating the development and use of performance-based incentives. The PEPA project is currently looking for watersheds to partner with in the US. If you know of a watershed that meets the PEPA criteria or are interested in learning more about performance based incentives, please contact PEPA at Jonathan R. Winsten, jwinsten@winrock.org, 802-656-0036.

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      Ecoagriculture Partners seeking Project Manager on Agroecosystems and biodiversity
      EP seeks to hire a Project Manager to join our committed team in our Washington, D.C., headquarters.

      The Project Manager will:
      • Lead EP’s contribution to an international project focused on improving the conservation outcomes of agricultural production systems for major commodity crops including palm oil, soybeans, sugar cane, and coffee. As part of this role, the Project Manager will: 
        • Implement a monitoring and evaluation system to evaluate project impacts on environmental, social, and economic outcomes;
        • Collaborate with project grantees and the project secretariat to refine metrics for sustainable commodity production;
        • Participate in international commodity roundtable meetings; 
        • Implement and refine an online data management system for tracking and analyzing project impacts at multiple scales; 
        • Contribute to scientific and technical analyses of ecoagriculture-related topics such as biodiversity conservation, climate adaptation, and climate mitigation in agricultural landscapes; 
        • Collaborate with the entire EP team on additional projects related to the applicant’s areas of expertise; 
        • Supervise program assistant and interns.
      Review of applications will commence on February 15, 2010 and continue until this position is filled.

      For more information, see announcement.

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