The climate-change deal signed in Paris “is a game-changer” for the 800 million hungry people in the world, because it is the first global agreement to give priority to food security, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. The FAO said the agreement recognizes “the fundamental priority of safeguarding food security and ending hunger, and the particular vulnerabilities of food production systems to the impacts of climate change.” The pact calls on nations to respond to climate change “in a manner that does not threaten food production.”
“By including food security, the international community fully acknowledges that urgent attention is needed to preserve the well-being and future of those who are on the front line of climate change threats,” said FAO director general Jose Graziano da Silva. “FAO is highly encouraged by the fact that agriculture, forestry, fisheries and land use factor prominently in most of the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) – the actions countries intend to take under the new Paris Agreement – and notes that this underscores the need for targeted investment in sustainable agriculture.” Under the agreement, countries are to announce every five years their plans to implement the pact.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the agreement “supports a better-nourished, stable, secure future for the United States and every nation …. The benchmarks outlined in the deal build on the ambitious climate smart strategy being implemented by U.S. farmers, ranchers and foresters in partnership with USDA and the Obama administration. Our efforts to boost productivity reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and share best practices with counterparts around the world will help to address climate change and improve global resilience while continuing to meet global demand for food, fiber and fuel.”
Overall, the agreement sets a target of limiting global warming to less than 2 degrees C. The five-year reviews are intended to rachet up each nation’s activities to reduce and adapt to climate change, said the White House. “The mitigation components of the Agreement, combined with a broad push on innovation and technology, will help significantly scale up energy investments over the coming years – investments that will accelerate cost reductions for renewable energy and other low-carbon solutions.”
Said Politico, “The final Paris deal is split into two parts: a section that is binding under international law that, among other things, requires governments to review and revise their own domestic climate goals every five years and a second non-binding section that codifies the nearly 190 domestic plans to reduce emissions that countries have already submitted to the UN. The legally binding provisions included in the pact don’t require Senate ratification because they rely on authorities green-lighted when the Senate approved a separate climate treaty in 1992.”