ANGA’s Virtual Workshop for the Joint Submission to the Sharm el-Sheikh Koronivia Joint Work Implementation Programme

Background

The 27^th Conference of the Parties (COP27) of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2022 was held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, from 6-18 November 2022. The COP27 has various sessions highlighting on the adaptation and agriculture thematic area, e.g., Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation Initiative (FAST), adaptation technologies, climate resilience and agriculture sustainability to attain food security, the role of private sector in agriculture and food systems, finance for Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA), including the significant meeting to make a decision on the “Koronivia joint work on agriculture” (KJWA).

The meeting adopted decision -/CP.27 on the “Sharm el-Sheikh Joint Work on Implementation of Climate Action on Agriculture and Food Security”, as part of the COP Presidency decision. It will be a 4-year initial program that will support knowledge exchange and scaling up of climate action, defined as “adaptation, adaptation co-benefits, and mitigation” in agriculture. The initial programme is looking forward to the launch of a knowledge digital online portal on climate action in the sector.

Interim contact point meetings were held amongst representatives of various negotiation blocs which include the US, EU, Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, G77 and China and the various sub-groups under G77 which includes the ASEAN Negotiating Group for Agriculture (ANGA). Fortunately, the COP27 Presidency ensured that a decision is made out of compromises amongst parties reached. The ANGA showed a strong engagement presence not just within G77 and China but also with other groups from the EU, US, New Zealand, etc. from the Koronivia Family.

The GCF Readiness Grant for Enhanced Climate Finance and Implementation of the KJWA was also launched at the Thai Pavilion of COP27. It is envisioned as the first of its kind in the world that hopes to create business plans backed by climate science in order to attract the right kind of investments. Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia and Laos all cooperated to make this one of the first multi-country proposals for the Readiness Grant. There is the idea to leverage this fund to attract bigger investments from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and World Bank, who gave positive agreement.

The COP27 recommended that

1. Loss and Damage financial instrument was launched. It hopes to compensate for damages done in crops and farming due to impacts of climate change. This needs to be further studied and linked to KJWA. EU drafted a last-minute financial offer to the loss and damage.
2. Article 6 rulebook further moved into advanced development. Prospects of the carbon market needs to be studied and guidance from new EU regulations on trade needs to be further understood. Many opportunities through ASEAN activities are underway to understand these issues.
3. Outside of G77 and China which seems to have limiting opportunities, bilateral relations with the EU needs to be established since their Farm to Fork programme bears similarities with the goals of Vietnam and Southeast Asia. EU negotiators should be invited to ASEAN to establish closer linkages and understanding, and gain opportunities offered by the EU.
4. American negotiators at the KJWA are very open to supporting mitigation in agriculture as it also is one of the founders of the Global Methane Pledge with many opportunities for funding and collaboration happening here.
5. Unpacking net zero for agriculture is happening within the ASEAN region with invitations from the Enhanced Regional EU-ASEAN Dialogue Instrument (E-READI), FAO and GIZ. Vietnam should ensure active participation.
6. A new platform to attract investments for LDC (least developed countries) is being launched following the example of the Southeast Asian multi-country proposal. Vietnam and ASEAN could do well to participate and take a leadership position here.

In this regard, parties and observers are invited to submit their views on the “Sharm el-Sheikh Joint Work on Implementation of Climate Action on Agriculture and Food Security” by 27 March 2023 regarding the nature of the implementation programme. To support ANGA in preparing the document submission to the UNFCCC, it is necessary to organize an event to accommodate such needs mentioned. Therefore, this virtual event is being organized by GIZ under the “Promotion of Sustainable Agricultural Value Chains in ASEAN” (ASEAN AgriTrade) Project, FAO-Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP), and Mekong Institute (MI) on behalf of the ASEAN AgriTrade Project.

Objectives of the workshop

• Strengthen engagement of ANGA with UNFCCC processes by ensuring that the 4-year plan reflects the views of ASEAN
• Ensure ASEAN agrifood system needs and views are included in the 4-year plan for the benefit of the region
• Strengthen ANGA’s capacities for joint submissions
• Introduce the GIZ/FAO e-learning course on negotiationsExpected outputs

The workshop is expected to generate the following outputs:

• Recommendations on TOR of the 4-year implementation programme;
• Strategies to enhance the programme at the national level;
• Overview and discussion on the adopted decision from COP27
• Official launch of the e-learning course on the UNFCCC negotiations, and
• Workshop Summary Report on the key discussion of the event.Target participants

• ANGA Focal Points from 10 AMS
• Food, Agriculture and Forestry Division (FAFD) of the ASEAN Secretariat