FAO’s roadmap fails to target agricultural emissions, ActionAid warns

Teresa Anderson, ActionAid’s Global Climate Justice Lead, says: 

“The Roadmap’s big problem is that it can’t bring itself to name the real issues at stake. It dances around the elephant in the room, pointing the finger anywhere but the actual culprits in the food sector. In failing to name chemical fertilisers, factory farming, or industrialised agriculture as the major sources of emissions and deforestation, its recommendations boil down to protecting the status quo. 

“One quarter of the world’s people base their livelihoods on agriculture. The Roadmap struggles with the tension between the need to protect the livelihoods of billions of farmers, and the compulsion to cheerlead the agribusiness technologies that displace labour, livelihoods, and local knowledge.  

“The lack of joined-up-thinking is illustrated by a naïve endorsement of Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) to drive down global temperatures. BECCS is more likely to drive land grabs and deforestation, harming farmers and creating conflicts over land and food. It’s surprising to see food experts blind to that likely outcome.” 

Kelly Stone, ActionAid USA Policy Analyst, says: 

“Ignoring agroecology in this roadmap is frustrating if not surprising. Despite the essential aspects of agroecology for small family farmers' adaptation and the value it brings for mitigation in the agriculture sector, it is often ignored. That’s not acceptable if we are going to have the needed just transition in agriculture. 

 "The biomass provisions though are deeply disturbing and have no place in this document. Bioenergy, with or without carbon capture and storage, is not a climate solution, and its certainly not in keeping with food and land rights." 

To contact the ActionAid Press Office, email media-enquiries@actionaid.org or WhatsApp +263776665065. 

Teresa Anderson is at COP28 and available for media interviews.