Rome, Italy, February 14th, 2019 – Last Tuesday, the members of the Farmers Driven Climate Change Alliance, namely the “Climakers”, gathered in the WFO Headquarters in Rome for their first technical meeting, after the launch event of the initiative at the UNFCCC COP 24 in Katowice, Poland.

Sharing expectations, knowing each other and building trust is fundamental for an Alliance of diverse actors as the Climakers are and this discussion was the first step towards this direction.

The meeting was composed of two sessions. The first part, in the morning, featured the participation of all the actors already engaged in the alliance.

Participants in the meeting were: Ms Arianna Giuliodori, World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO), Mr Abdelmajid Ezzar, Maghrebian and North African Farmers Union (UMNAGRI), Mr Majola Mabuza, Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU), Ms Euthalia Philgenec, Agriculture Alliance for the Caribbean (AACARI) and Ms Alessia Musumarra, European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA) as representatives of the Farmers’ Organisations; Ms Chening Florina on behalf of the Climate Smart Agriculture Youth Network (CSAYN); Ms Anette Engelund Friis representing the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, CCAFS; Ms Yvonne Harz-Pitre, International Fertilizer Association (IFA), Mr Robert Hunter, CropLife International and Mr Michael Keller, International Seed Federation (ISF) on the side of Private Sector Associations; Mr Juha Ruippo on  behalf of the Finnish Agri-Agency for Food and Forest Development (FFD)

All the attendees provided key contributions to help the work of the implementation of the Farmers Driven Climate Change Agenda in the upcoming months.

During the afternoon, guest representatives from relevant Multilateral Organisations joined the meeting for an informal exchange on the Climakers initiative and their potential contribution to it.

Guests were Dr Gianpiero Menza, Bioversity International; Mr Zitouni Ould-Dada and Ms Anna Korzensky on behalf of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO); Ms Federica Matteoli and Ms Rima Al-Azar representing the Global Alliance on Climate Smart Agriculture (GACSA); Mr Don Syme as representative of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA).

In addition, Mr Tobias Baedeker of the World Bank, Mr Nathanial Matthews on behalf of the Global Resilience Partnership (GRP), Mr Stefaan Bonte from AgriCord and a representative from the International Cooperation Development Fund, took part in the debate by videoconference.

By the end it was clear that only acting collectively it will be possible to make an effective contribution to the global political discussion on climate change, giving voice to those who are part of the problem but who also holds the potential to solve it and who fight against it every day: the farmers.

The Climakers are already on the way to their second meeting in Luxembourg during the WFO General Assembly, from the 20th to the 23rd of May.

Save the Date!

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About THE CLIMAKERS:

THE CLIMAKERS are the members of the Farmers Driven Climate Change Alliance, which is to say all the farmers of the world and all the stakeholders in the agricultural sector that are committed to provide solutions to climate change, working together to strengthen farmers’ capacity to influence the Governments’ decision-making process on climate change. 

To RSVP or schedule interviews, please contact:

Valeria Di Marzo
Communications Officer
World Farmers’ Organisation
EMAIL valeria.dimarzo@wfo-oma.org