Day 3 COP17: The real business of climate change

By Nokutula Mhene, Fairtrade Africa

The 17th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP17) kicked off on Monday and the Fairtrade movement has already begun to engage. Will day three deliver what vulnerable farmers in the developing world need to adapt?

We have a large and global delegation here in Durban, with representation from Africa, Asia and Latin America. It is clear that climate change respects no geographic boundaries. 

Fairtrade producers in all parts of the vulnerable South are suffering in the face of climate change and need COP17 to deliver mechanisms that will help them adapt and mitigate.

Some Fairtrade producers have experienced as much as 28% reduction in harvests due to climate change.

Climate change has wiped out nearly half of the 10 million coffee trees the members of the Fairtrade-certified Mzuzu Coffee Planters Co-operative Union have planted since 2003, according to the union’s operations director Bernard Kaunda. Mzuzu Coffee represents 3,500 small holder coffee producers in Malawi’s mountainous northern region whose hopes rest on COP17 delivering policies that can help them in the face of climate change.

The opening remarks were promising, with all speakers reiterating the need to reach a deal that works for people and the environment. The Minister of International Relations in South Africa and incoming President of COP17-CMP7, Edna Molewa, emphasised the need for a fair deal that has the poor in mind. However, whether this optimism will last remains to be seen as the negotiations proceed.

Early in the day we heard that Canada was planning on pulling out of the Kyoto protocol; clearly an early sign that not all countries are willing to commit to a stronger agreement.

We remain nonetheless optimistic about COP17 and hope that strides will be achieved in terms of financing mechanisms to support agricultural adaptation in the vulnerable South. As day three begins, we get down to the real business and call upon representatives to remember agricultural dependent communities in the face of climate change.