The Koronivia family has gathered many times in the last years, in person and online. Through nearly a dozen workshops we have spent time together sharing recipes, listening to experts ranging from smallholder farmers to IPCC scientists, and cooking up real solutions to feed the world and cool the planet. We’re so close to serving up a truly amazing meal of delicious, resilient and gender-responsive agroecological solutions that shift us away from polluting, industrialised farming systems. It’s starting to smell delicious!
But oh no! There are crashing sounds in the kitchen. Will this delicious meal end up on the floor, and will we be served with an empty pot? After all these years of effort?
ECO knows that when it comes to issues of agriculture, considerations of equity must be central. Adaptation is key to future food security. Efforts to reduce emissions in agriculture are essential to limit warming to 1.5°C and avert runaway climate breakdown. Parties must target the biggest and most historically responsible polluters, and not put the burden on those that have done the least to cause the climate crisis and who are already experiencing severe impacts. Navigating this pathway may be tricky, but it’s not impossible. ECO thinks that most chefs in the Koronivia kitchen would agree that we need to change large-scale polluting factory farming systems, while protecting smallholder pastoralist systems. Language that reflects this nuance should be the basis of discussions about livestock and agriculture.
A procedural text without any real recommendations would be a terrible waste of the time the Koronivia family has spent in the kitchen, and a tragic waste of the delicious dish that we smelled earlier. We implore you, please don’t give up on serving up some delicious and gender-responsive agroecological recommendations that strengthen resilience, help to keep the planet from going over 1.5°C of warming, and that keep the terrible taste of big polluters out of our food. It’s in all of our interests.