REGENERATIVE SOLUTIONS TO CLIMATE CHANGE GAIN MOMENTUM AT COP 23

NGOs and Change Makers Host ‘Speed Up the Cool Down’ Event in Bonn

BONN, GERMANY, November 15, 2017 – Today, farmers, climate justice activists, indigenous and women’s rights advocates, agroecologists, and the growing regenerative agriculture movement are coming together in Bonn to collaborate on reversing climate change. At a special event at IFOAM Organics International headquarters, regenerative, natural and organic agriculture organizations, representing tens of thousands of farmers and consumers are taking steps to advance soil-climate sequestration projects around the world.

“It’s no longer enough to talk only about cutting carbon emissions and mitigating global warming,” said Precious Pirri, a steering committee member of Regeneration International (RI) who is based on Zimbabwe. “We must include a plan for drawing down the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere. Organic regenerative agriculture and land use can restore the soil’s ability to sequester carbon, and ultimately bring about the reversal of climate change.”

Speed Up the Cool Down is a unique opportunity at the COP 23 to connect with a growing network of regenerators who are putting carbon back into the ground and doing it in a sustainable and natural way using organic regenerative farming and land-use practices. The event is co-organized by Biovision, IFOAM, Regeneration International, Shumei International and Terra Genesis International.

There is agreement that time is running out in the last week of the climate change talks at the UNFCCC COP 23 in Bonn. Governments and civil society organizations are looking for answers. After a five-year deadlock,parties agreed for the SBI and SBSTA to “jointly address issues related to agriculture and its vulnerabilities in facing climate change”. There is a growing consensus on approaches to address food security through soil health and soil fertility, improved nutrient use and livestock management.

According to Andre Leu, IFOAM-Organics International Ambassador, “There is no need to invest in expensive, potentially dangerous and unproven technologies such as carbon capture and storage or geo-engineering.All that is needed is to scale up existing ‘shovel ready’ solutions and improve their rates of sequestration through further research. The widespread introduction of regenerative, organic farming systems can make a considerable contribution to stabilizing atmospheric CO2.”

In fact, the French National Institute of Agronomy Research found that it would be possible to draw down enough carbon out of the atmosphere to bridge the emissions gap of the Paris Agreement targets by increasing soil organic matter, carbon, on farmlands and forestry worldwide.

“I represent small-holder farmers and women who are among the most vulnerable to climate change, but more importantly, we are also part of the solution,” said Barbara Hachipuka Banda, founder of the Natural Agriculture Development Program Zambia in partnership with Shumei International. “The only real solution to climate change is through collaboration and scalability to build a movement for change. We are stronger together when we work in harmony with nature.”

Speed Up the Cool Down invites organizations and individuals to learn more about best practices and to join the regenerative agriculture movement to reverse climate change. Participants will include representatives from: 4/1000, France; Biovision, Switzerland; the finalists of the Farming for Biodiversity Solution Search Award (RARE), Global; IFOAM Organics International; Natural Agriculture Development Program Zambia; Organic Consumers Association; Regeneration International; Terra Genesis, USA, and more.

Download flyer: Speed up the Cool Down

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Media Contact:

Brianne Chai-Onn

Shumei International

bchaionn@yahoo.com

+1 917-257-6662