Rome, Italy, November 29th, 2019 – On Wednesday, December 4th, 2019, the members of the Farmers Driven Climate Change Alliance, namely the “Climakers”, will gather in Madrid, Spain, within the context of the UNFCCC COP 25 Farmers Day, to share the first findings of this ambitious initiative one year after its launch at COP24, in Katowice, Poland.

Under the title “Transforming Food Systems with a Farmers Driven Climate Agenda”, the event, organised by the World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO) together with the CGIAR Centre for Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), will provide the occasion for shining a light on the farmers contribution to the fight against climate change, thanks to their unique practical expertise, a combination of formal education, traditional knowledge and experience from living and working on the land and with nature.

“As farmers, we live very close to nature, closer than anyone else in the world.  We are the ones that work under the sun or the rain and wind. We are the ones whose production processes are most threatened by wildfires and disasters. Hence, for centuries, farmers have been involved in mitigating and adapting to climate phenomena”, states Theo De Jager, President, World Farmers’ Organisation.

The latest IPCC report on Climate Change and Land holds Agriculture responsible for 23% of Greenhouse Gases Emission; however, this data does not take into consideration the carbon sequestration contribution of the farming sector. Through this initiative, the Climakers wish to highlight the pragmatic contribution of the farmers from each corner of the globe to both mitigation and adaptation.

To ensure a wide geographical coverage of inputs from farmers on the ground, the Climakers went from the Caribbean to Brussels to hear directly from the farmers’ voice their stories on climate change and collect the practical solutions they are already experimenting with their own resources.

The event will provide an excellent venue to officially launch “The Climakers – Stories from the Field – Volume 1”. This publication, the first of a  series, is designed to provide a collection of science-based best farming practices, showing the enormous potential of the agricultural sector when it comes to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Click here to learn more about the detailed event’s program.