The COP29 Presidency on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, outlined the initiatives and outcomes on its Action Agenda, laying out in full the series of pledges and declarations that it will use to supplement the negotiated COP agenda and accelerate climate action leading to, during and following COP29.
This includes an important update on the Baku Harmoniya Initiative for Farmers, an innovative new initiative that will bring together the disparate landscape of existing programmes, coalitions and networks designed to empower farmers, so that support can better target and deliver on the needs of farmers and farming organisations.
In partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the Baku Harmoniya Initiative for Farmers aims to:
- Create a portal to clarify the landscape of existing programmes designed to empower farmers. The initiative will serve as an aggregator that brings together disparate initiatives to improve coherence in the field and identify gaps and opportunities for future policymaking and support.
- Catalyse investment in climate-resilient agrifood systems by matching needs with available funds. It will also seek to address the gap between Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and national agricultural Public Development Banks (PDBs) by facilitating collaboration between the two groups.
- Empower farmers, in particular women and youth, to help build climate-resilient agricultural communities, by consulting with MDBs to produce accessible guidelines for farmers and agricultural organisations on how they can apply for funds.
Altogether, this will mean more funding will be spent more effectively and go to where it is needed most.
Kaveh Zahedi, Director of the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment (OCB) at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, said: “FAO welcomes the Baku Harmoniya Initiative and looks forward to working with the COP29 Azerbaijan Presidency, as well as stakeholders and partners, to accelerate the transformation towards sustainable and resilient agrifood systems. This Climate Initiative for Farmers represents an unparalleled opportunity to drive concrete climate solutions through agrifood systems.”
Related to this, the Action Agenda also included the launch of the COP29 Declaration on Reducing Methane from Organic Waste to supplement the Global Methane Pledge (GMP). The Declaration is being developed in partnership with the GMP Secretariat and UNEP’s Climate and Clean Air Coalition and seeks to enhance ambition with more governments signing the Global Methane Pledge.
Governments endorsing the COP29 Declaration on Reducing Methane from Organic Waste will declare their commitment to set sectoral targets to reducing methane from organic waste within future NDCs. In 2022, food waste generated up to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, nearly five times that of the aviation sector. This has major costs for economies, human health, and the environment.
