Wednesday 3 November 2010

Delegates at the Hague this week are looking for 'climate smart' solutions: we suggest a few

The Down2Earth Conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change is taking place this week (31st October-5th November) at the Hague. International organisations, companies and civic organisations have come together in the Netherlands with delegates from over 80 countries to build a roadmap for facing the triple challenges of climate change, poverty and food security.


They will be looking for ways to achieve climate smart growth within our global agricultural system, that is, growth within the agricultural sector that tackles the twin issues of poverty and the need for climate mitigation and adaptation.

May we suggest that delegates look to the work of some Ashden Award winners for concrete examples of climate smart growth?

Our winners are producing biogas for cooking and fertilizing crops, developing solar drying techniques adding value (and income) to fruit crops and using simple treadle-powered pumps and ‘drip’ irrigation to expand the production of smallholders. They are at the forefront of solutions tackling rural poverty, food security and a changing climate.

Today’s focus on finance models addressed a question that has been key for Ashden winners: "what are the business and funding models that will deliver the adaptation and mitigation solutions needed within agricultural development?"

Tomorrow the Down2Earth Conference will hear keynote speeches from Kofi Annan, HRH Princess Máxima of the Netherlands and Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute.

For more discussion on sustainable agriculture see:

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