IICA joins initiative created by the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates – host country of COP28 – to increase investment in climate-smart agriculture and innovation

San Jose, 31 March 2023 (IICA) - As part of its commitment to environmental sustainability and the fight against climate change, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) has joined an initiative created by the governments of the United States of America and the United Arab Emirates – host country of COP28 – aimed at increasing investment in climate-smart agriculture and innovation in agrifood systems.
 
The Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate) project seeks to unite worldwide public and private efforts to address both climate change and global hunger, by urgently adapting agrifood production to new technologies, tools and approaches that foster economic expansion and job creation around the world.
 
IICA has joined AIM for Climate as one of its “knowledge partners”, alongside other international organizations, academic and research institutions, private sector companies and nongovernmental organizations.
 
The Institute will collaborate in the development of innovative tools for agriculture by sharing good practices, building capacities, disseminating information and supporting the project’s activities, so that they may effectively reach farmers, especially in the countries that are most vulnerable to climate change.
 
Close to 50 governments have already joined the initiative led by the United States and the United Arab Emirates, whose representatives in the initiative are U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and the UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, Mariam Almheiri.
 
The United Arab Emirates will be hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai in November and December this year.
 
By participating in AIM for Climate, governments are demonstrating their willingness to increase public investment in innovation to achieve climate-smart agriculture.
 
Among the participants of the initiative are several countries of the Americas: The Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay.
 
“AIM for Climate is an important initiative to foster research, innovation and public policymaking to invest in resilient agriculture. We are living in an incredible time for innovation, which can transform the way in which we produce and reduce our impact on the environment”, said Manuel Otero, Director General of IICA.
 
“We are an institution that looks outward to the world from the Americas. We have worked with our Member States to promote agriculture, farmers and science as part of the solutions to climate challenges and food insecurity. Joining this initiative led by the United States and the United Arab Emirates is a privilege and confirms our commitment to furthering these efforts”, added Otero.
 
AIM for Climate is based on the understanding that climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and fires, which is severely affecting agricultural practices and has plunged many farmers into poverty. At the same time, a growing global population depends on increasingly vulnerable agrifood production. Consequently, it is of crucial importance to increase the ambition of mitigation efforts and implement faster and more transformative science-based climate policies in all countries.
 
AIM for Climate seeks to demonstrate collective commitment to increase investments and foster scientific breakthroughs from both public and private institutions to address current crises with an innovative approach. A key feature of the project is that it draws on the diverse knowledge, cultures and experiences of participants.
 
IICA’s participation in the Summit
 
IICA Director General Manuel Otero will participate as a speaker at the AIM for Climate Summit to be held from May 8 to 10 in Washington, D.C., specifically in the panel entitled “Innovation for Integrating and Mainstreaming Agriculture in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)- Lessons Learned from Africa, Asia and Latin America”.
 
The summit will bring together policymakers, industry leaders, producers, civil society groups, and scientists and researchers worldwide to drive rapid and transformative climate action. Among the speakers will be former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, along with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
 
At the summit, non-governmental stakeholders will present their innovative initiatives for climate-smart agriculture and agrifood systems, related to the reduction of methane emissions, small-scale producers in low- and middle-income countries, and emerging technologies and agroecology.
 
IICA has also confirmed that it will attend COP28 in Dubai, together with the ministers of agriculture of the Americas and private sector stakeholders, to showcase the progress achieved by the hemisphere’s agrifood sector in mitigating and adapting to climate change.
 
In 2022, together with its Member States and private sector partners, IICA set up a pavilion called The Home of Sustainable Agriculture of the Americas at COP27, which provided the region’s agriculture sector and climate change specialists with an opportunity to engage in dialogue and participate in more than 50 conferences.
 
At COP27, IICA presented the consensus position of the ministers and secretaries of Agriculture of the Americas in a document that stated that climate actions to achieve a more sustainable agriculture sector must be based on science, in order to safeguard and increase productivity, and prevent a deepening food crisis.

More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int