COP22 recently held at Marrakech initiated the process of turning the UN’s Paris Agreement into a detailed blueprint for action. Dr V V Sadamate participated in this event and he shares his experiences here.
CONTEXT
The twenty-second session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22), the twelfth session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 12), and the first session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA 1) were held in Bab Ighli, Marrakech, Morocco from 7-18 November 2016. The Conference successfully demonstrated to the world that the implementation of the Paris Agreement is underway and the constructive spirit of multilateral cooperation on climate change continues. While the Paris Agreement has clearly recognized the principle of differentiation between developed and developing countries, the current round was focused on operationalising it in rules pertaining to adaptation, mitigation, finance, technology transfer, capacity building and transparency frameworks.
I participated in this meeting on behalf of the National Council for Climate Change and Sustainable Development (NCCSD). The NCCSD team comprised of Dr. Kirit N.Shelat, Executive Chairman, NCCSD; Prof. Mbuya Odemari, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University; Mr. J. S. Gosalia, VRTI, Gujarat; Dr. Rohit Srivastava, Assistant Professor, Indian Centre for Climate and Societal Impact; and myself.
MY PARTICIPATION
Exhibition at Blue Zone, COP-22
NCCSD put up an impressive exhibition stall, 22D at Blue Zone with two more NGO partners namely NGOs from Edna Blanc Civil, Haiti, and Development Le Durable (AVD) from Cameron from 7 to 18 November 2016. It depicted the Climate Change interventions like climate smart agriculture, soil health, water harvesting, micro irrigation, management of agro wastes, etc., operated by it in collaboration with the State Governments and other stakeholders. It included the charts, posters and video material on climate smart technologies, empowerment of the farmers, policy advocacy etc. DVDs and printed materials were distributed to the visitors from across the globe. TV videos were played on regular basis on various subject matters. Nearly 50-60 visitors /enquiries were received daily regarding India’s actions on climate change and other collaborative areas. Besides others, Mr. Simon Dieuseul Desras, Hon’ble Minister of Environment of Haiti visited the stall.
Side Event on Farm Renewable and Farmer Perspective on Climate Change
The event was organized on 9 Nov 2016 in collaboration with Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA). Farmer Representatives from France, Brazil, Canada and India participated in the event. The deliberations were moderated by Mr. Drew Black from Canada. Speakers highlighted the issues like actions by the farmers on implementation of Climate Change interventions, natural resource management, contingency plans, animal husbandry programs, sustainable development, etc. Dr. Shelat spoke on Food, Water and Energy nexus. Dr. Rohit Srivastava spoke on the Weather forecasting for climate resilient agriculture. Good number of questions from the audience was taken up for answers. I summarized the proceedings and suggested midterm review of the important decisions/recommendations.
Climate Change Adaptation Strategies at India Pavilion, organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare (Government of India)
The NCCSD actively participated in the Climate Adaptation Strategy Event organized by the Ministry of Agriculture on 10 November 2016. The event was Chaired by Smt. Usha Rani, DG, MANAGE, Hyderabad. Dr. Rath, Additional Commissioner, Ministry of Agriculture and Dr. V. P. Sharma, Director, MANAGE dealt in detail on the flagship programmes of the Ministry of Agriculture whereas Dr. Navin Horo of GIZ focused on the NGO interventions in sustainable development of weaker sections. Two brief presentations came from NCCSD, one by me on innovative extension strategies, highlighting features and implementation experiences of Krishi Mahotsava model in Gujarat where as Dr. Shelat referred to the need for empowering farmers for climate contingencies. The NCCSD interventions were well received by the audience especially participants from African Countries.
Climate Law and Governance Day at Marrakech University
The event was organized on 11 Nov 2016 by GODAN Secretariat, UK based international NGO promoting Climate Justice actions. Dr. Shelat and I participated in the event. Dr. Shelat made a very compressive presentation on Climate justice issues emanated in the Paris declaration and demanded greater and fairer justice to the farmers in vulnerable ecologies and for the agriculture sector as a whole. He further suggested greater orientation of the judiciaries at the various levels as NCCSD did in Gujarat in 2015 in India involving the Chief Justice of Supreme Court and Chef Justice of Gujarat High Court and huge lawyer community.
Indigenous people and the Climate Change – Indian Perspective
The event was organized on 14th November by the UNDP in Green Zone, Indigenous Pavilion. Dr. Mbuya Odemari of Florida University chaired the celebrations. In his opening remarks and in setting the context, he emphasized that the indigenous communities world over are disadvantaged in climate change planning and implementation and suggested their partnerships in all the stages of climate action. I gave an overview of the development programmes specific to the tribal communities in India. Dr. Shelat and Mr. Gosalia in their presentation highlighted success stories of Dahod and Chhota Udaipur tribal areas through agriculture and allied sector interventions. Dr. Mbuya while summing up suggested networking of such efforts worldwide, and initiating pilots and upscaling through national and international funding to provide local solutions to the climate change adaptation in tribal setting. Dr. Mubaya also suggested collaborative efforts on climate change studies with indigenous settings with UNDP scholars, working in different countries like Uganda/Kenya.
Side event on Building Climate Smart Farmers
The event was organized by GACSA on 16th Nov, 2016 at Green Zone area of COP-22.
Dr. Shelat and Mr. Gosalia in their interventions emphasized on training and capacity building of women farmers and making them ready for adaptation of climate change interventions at the farm levels. Dr. Shelat further added that the farm women could play an important role in climate change adaptation strategies provided they are empowered and the development functionaries are oriented accordingly at all the levels.
NCCSD Team meets Hon’ble Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India
NCCSD Team lead by Dr. Shelat briefly met Shri. A.M Dave, Hon’ble Minister on 14 November 2016 at India pavilion and informed him on the programmes and activities of NCCSD. Minister desired a separate discussion in near future.
MY IMPRESSIONS
The event was a great success. The Green Zone accommodated mainly the Moroccan achievements in terms of industrial and technology developments. It also covered activities of certain other international organizations like UNDP, GACSA, etc. The Blue Zone comprised country pavilions, the negotiation hall, and a separate hall for accommodating about 400 NGOs/CSOs active in climate action in different countries. The events organized in the country pavilions covered country specific seminars/deliberations which were witnessed by the international audience and experts. The forum did provide for exchange of information and experiences on climate action across the nations. The India pavilion did distinguish itself by its wonderful and innovative design and attracted large number of visitors.
As I wrote in my previous meeting note from Paris (COP21) for AESA, “Extension and Advisory Services (EAS) have a major role in organizing farmers to adopt measures aimed at adaptation to climate change and communicating climate advisory to farmers. In fact, the whole adaptation at the ground level is fully dependent on extension and there is a need to enhance the capacities of extension personnel and of farmers in this area. There is a need to learn from the successful experiences of different countries and different actors in implementing adaptation measures and this should feed into the training of extension staff through systematically designed training modules” (Sadamate, 2016).
REFERENCE
Sadamate V V (2016). AESA My Meeting Notes 25. COP 21, Paris Climate Conference, Paris, France, 27 November-10 December 2015. Available at: http://www.aesa- gfras.net/admin/kcfinder/upload/files/Meeting%20Note%2025.pdf
Dr V V Sadamate is a Former Adviser, Agriculture, Planning Commission and Member NCCSD (sadamatevv@gmail.com)
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This is indeed a matter of pride for we extension professionals that someone from our fraternity not only participated in this significant global event having policy implications, but also brought extension education in focus by way of his presentation. Dr Sadamate one among the most respected extension Professional having wide experience in filed level extension activities has beautifully captured the event including through very relevant photos, which makes it an interesting reading. I agree with Dr Sadamate, when he says, Extension and Advisory Services (EAS) have a major role in organizing farmers to adopt measures aimed at adaptation to climate change and communicating climate advisory to farmers. In fact, the whole adaptation at the ground level is fully dependent on extension and there is a need to enhance the capacities of extension personnel and of farmers in this area. There is a need to learn from the successful experiences of different countries and different actors in implementing adaptation measures and this should feed into the training of extension staff through systematically designed training modules. Appreciably, MANAGE is actively involving itself in this direction. Congratulations Dr Sadamate & AESA for yet another masterpiece in the form of this well articulated Meeting Note on one very important Meeting of global significance having bearing on Extension systems among others.
Congragulations To All The Indians Paritcipents.