Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture

November 18, 2022

India opposed the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture that sought to minimize greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture sector.

What is Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture?

The Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture (KJWA) is a special decision under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that aims to recognize the unique potential of the agriculture sector in addressing the climate change.
It addresses 6 interrelated topics on soil, nutrient usage, livestock, water, methods for gauging adaptation and socio-economic and food security dimensions of climate change across the agriculture sector.
This decision is in line with the core mandate of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) – elimination of hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition; reduction of rural poverty; and increase productivity and sustainability of agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors.
The KJWA proposes many approaches that have a high potential for adaptation, adaptation co-benefits, and mitigation related to land and food systems. These include the conservation and restoration of ecosystems, improving the sustainability of agricultural practices, and minimizing food wastage and losses.

Why has India opposed the KJWA?

India held that emissions from the agricultural sectors are not “luxury” emissions but “survival emissions” of the poor. It blamed the developed countries’ historic emissions for the current climate crisis.

Currently, agricultural tasks are the livelihood of small and marginal farmers who will find it difficult to make a rapid transition to sustainable agricultural practices. Developed countries are proposing sustainable agriculture to become a site for countering their excessive emissions.

India pointed out that developed countries owe the world a carbon debt of 790 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide, which is worth 79 trillion USD even at the modest pricing of 100 USD per tonne. South Asia’s historic total carbon emissions from the pre-industrial period until 2019 are less than 4 per cent despite hosting a quarter of the global population. India’s per capita yearly emissions are about one-third of the global average. If the entire world emits carbon at the same per capita level as India, climate crisis can be addressed.

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