Pulses can help the battle against climate change by improving agricultural resilience. With COP21 starting today, this blog looks at the links between COP21, the SDGs and pulses.
COP21 is meant to put in place a new framework for global efforts to reduce GHG emissions globally. While the focus of the current negotiations is on mitigation efforts, the new Agreement, as well as the national commitments, are expected to include actions to help mitigate, adapt and build resilience across sectors, including the ‘land-based’ sectors such as agriculture.
The Agreement is not structured to cover different sectors in details. However, agriculture is one of the main contributors to global emissions, while also being essential to providing new solutions for carbon capture, increasing resilience and supporting livelihoods. Given the critical role played by agriculture in many economies, not only in terms of food security but also in terms of providing economic opportunity and reducing poverty, agriculture is a key component of national strategies for adaptation and mitigation.
As such, the ‘resilience’ component of the new Agreement will be directly relevant to the sector and to governments as they seek to implement their commitments through national policies. Helping the poorest people in the world adapt to these changes and building resilience in developing countries will be critical, as farmers continue to battle rising temperatures, frequent droughts and food supply shortages across the globe.
Key points: Pulses are a tool to deliver improved agricultural resilience
- Pulses are already delivering resilience (viz low water use etc.)
- Pulses have proven benefits which meet the COP21 and SDG agendas (e.g. food security, nutrition, environmental and greenhouse gas benefits)
- Resilience in agriculture is an item on many countries’ agendas at COP21
- Improving resilience in agriculture is a key tool to meeting COP21 objectives (and SDGs)
- Actions & investments in improving resilience are key to making COP21 (and SDGs) a success
- New strains of pulse seed are already working to help deliver resilience, but R&D needs to be scaled up
- Pulses are an overlooked and under invested in category of food source
- IYP and its stakeholders want to see increased R&D, research, and technology uptake into pulses to boost ‘heat beater’ and other aspects of resilience and IYP is working to do this with its stakeholders.
For more detail about how pulses can play a role in a more sustainable agricultural system as well as aid improved food security and nutrition please read the briefing papers attached.
factsheet_pulses_and_food_security_october_13.pdf
iyp_factsheet_pulses_and_rural_development.pdf
iyp_factsheet_orphan_crops.pdf