Dubai– 108 organizations from 26 countries supported demands led by rural peoples of the Global South to negotiators of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties 28 (COP28) to slam the brakes on profit-motivated false climate solutions and instead push for the radical transformation of food systems to address the climate crisis.
A petition of the Global People’s Caravan for Food, Land and Climate Justice–circulated among communities of small farmers, agricultural workers, Indigenous peoples, other rural peoples and their advocates since early this year–lists five demands:
- Transform food systems away from fossil fuels towards agroecology and people’s food sovereignty
- End corporate monopoly over land, water, and natural resources
- Polluters must pay for climate destruction
- End fossil fueled wars vs. rural communities
- Ensure genuine participation of rural peoples in climate policy
“Rural peoples have lost the most, and stand to lose the most, from the climate crisis. We must not be used to advance profiteering schemes designed to further trample upon our rights and welfare. Small farmers, not big corporations, must be at the center of climate action,” said Wali Hader from Roots for Equity (Pakistan) in an action and press conference held today at COP28 by rural peoples’ representatives from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
The petition states that: “Land grabbing has intensified under the mantle of so-called ‘nature-based solutions’. Biofuel plantations, some big ‘conservation’ and renewable energy projects, and green bonds to finance the operations of big agribusinesses have accelerated deforestation and the loss of the world’s natural carbon sinks. They have displaced small farmers and Indigenous Peoples in the Global South. Climate-friendly, biodiverse farming practices have been replaced by monocultures under exploitative working conditions.”
The petition also pointed out that while agrochemical and fertilizer industries are among the world’s top emitters, they are cashing in on opportunities provided by the climate crisis. “Billions of dollars are being poured into TNC-led development and promotion of ‘climate-smart,’ ‘precision’ and ‘regenerative’ agriculture that involve the use of herbicides, proprietary gene-edited or genetically modified seeds and biological products, laboratory-made food and feed, and digital technologies to more efficiently promote the use of chemical inputs and measure soil carbon credits. These so-called climate ‘solutions’ hinge on questionable emissions cuts claims and risky technologies, while perpetuating the fossil fuel economy and laying the groundwork for almost total corporate control over food systems,” it stated.
The corporate agenda at COP28 is made apparent with the UAE Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action adopted by 134 countries on December 1, which was accompanied by USD$2.5 billion in funding support for initiatives that involve the world’s largest agri-businesses and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Also launched at the COP28 was the Action Agenda on Regenerative Landscapes, which involve multinationals in food, grains trade, dairy, and agrochemicals–namely Nestle, Unilever, PepsiCo, ADM, Danone, and UPL–giant banks, and top carbon offsets seller The Nature Conservancy.
“Carbon credits generated from land have become an increasingly sought-after financial asset. For rural peoples in the Global South, this only means one thing–an increase in land monopoly by local elites and big businesses through dispossession and violent eviction, deforestation and plunder of natural resources. There must be no land and resource grabs under the banner of net zero,” said Arnold Padilla, coordinator of PAN Asia Pacific and the Global People’s Caravan.
“The lack of mention of agroecology in the COP28 Food Systems Declaration is telling of the perpetuation of the fossil fuel-driven industrial farming model based on corporate food systems–the very opposite of ‘transformation’ that the declaration espouses,” Padilla added.
The Global People’s Caravan told COP28 negotiators, “A just food and energy transition is only possible when rural food producers and Indigenous Peoples’ control their land, territories, water, and natural resources. Countries must advance a genuinely redistributive land and agrarian reform program, a pro-people aquatic and fisheries reform, and instill policies to protect natural resources from domestic and foreign plunder.”
Note to editors:
- The Global People’s Caravan for Food, Land and Climate Justice is a Global South led campaign of rural peoples to mobilize on interrelated issues of food, land and climate justice towards radical food systems transformation. (www.ourfoodsystems.org)
Media contacts:
Arnold Padilla, coordinator of PAN Asia Pacific and the Global People’s Caravan, arnold.padilla@panap.net
Wali Hader, joint director of Roots for Equity (Pakistan), walikhi@yahoo.com
Ilang-Ilang Quijano, Global People’s Caravan communications officer, ilang.quijano@panap.net