Representatives of the Asociación Argentina de Productores en Siembra Directa (AAPRESID), the Canadian firm Nutrien, one of the major producers of agricultural industries of the world, and the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA, also from Canada) will participate in an event at the House of the Sustainable Agriculture of the Americas (IICA flag at COP28), in order to ensure the importance of collaboratively advancing green emissions in the chain of agroalimentary value, thus increasing the sustainability of production and promoting it. Food Safety.

The meeting was opened by Margaret Zeigler, IICA Representative in the United States, and moderated by Sophie Beecher, Director General of Sustainable Policy Development at Agri-Food Canada (the Canadian Department of Food and Agriculture).

“We consider it essential that producers are involved in these negotiations which focus on the path towards a more sustainable way of producing. We believe that the most important condition for this is that there are producers involved in the innovation processes and that the discussions that take place are based on science and technology,” said the president of AAPRESID , Marcelo Torres.

In the exchange, Torres also said that they seek to “build a reliable channel from the field to the consumer”, offering them more elements of judgment to choose based on environmental criteria.

“So that through your consumption habits, you can contribute to changing these productive models; and also that the farmer and the breeder have an additional motivation, because they can reach other markets, because what they produce has another value depending on their environmental footprint,” he added.

Torres said that in the COPs (Conferences of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) in recent years there has been a growing presence of agricultural producer associations and that discussions on agriculture during of these summits “are taken on a global scale”. a little more on a scientific basis.

“Increasingly, we find more and more discussions in which farmers participate; “We are slowly starting to discuss data and processes and not so much ideas,” commented the AAPRESID president.

On this subject, the Director General of IICA, Manuel Oterocommented : “Our position is that science is the basis for all decisions that need to be made on how agriculture can increase its contribution to mitigation and adaptation, since the sector is a fundamental part of solutions to change climatic. at the center of all policies aimed at this objective, because they give life to agricultural systems which are not failing, even if they can be perfected..

The challenge of working together

Michelle Nutting, Director of Agricultural and Environmental Sustainability at Nutrien, explained that in her company they faced the challenge of promoting carbon measurements between the different actors in their production chain, for which they had to work collaboratively.

“One of the first challenges was to create reliable alliances to move forward together on the path to measuring and reducing emissions, then to have a third organization that would validate our actions to be able to extend them. This was also a challenge because there is not a lot of agricultural experience from the validation and verification bodies that exist, training is needed in this area,” Nutting said.

“(Measuring emissions) is a decision that carries risks, because there is no single path to follow, it requires commitment from producers, suppliers, etc., as well as effort, learning , resources and time,” added Katie Sullivan, executive director. of IETA.

Marcelo Torres, from AAPRESID, highlighted that the call by producer organizations for carbon emissions indicators to have a scientific basis also indicates an increase in productivity, without which the food security of the world population will be difficult.

“This breakdown in the balance between supply and demand after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine made us understand that the balance is really very tight, that we have to take care of the planet, but at the same time time to have productivity levels that allow us to continue to support this growing demand. “, said.

According to this Argentine producer, it is essential that agriculture positions this message in the COPs. “The summit is precisely the most appropriate place where, from all over the world and all human activities, we discuss how we can continue to support growing demand, with less impact on the planet,” he said. -he explained.

“Our position is that science is the basis for all decisions that need to be made on how agriculture can increase its contribution to mitigation and adaptation, since the sector is a fundamental part of solutions to change climatic. at the center of all policies aimed at this objective, because they give life to agricultural systems which are not failing, even if they can be perfected.declared the Director General of the IICA, Manuel Otero on this subject.