The Agriculture Sectors in the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions

Book excerpt: 189 countries have submitted their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) and/or their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the UNFCCC. With the Paris Agreement having entered into force in November 2016, the INDCs/ NDCs will guide country-level climate action for the coming years. They include not only targets, but also concrete strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation. FAO has analyzed the INDCs/ NDCs to assess the role of agriculture and land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) and the agriculture sectors (crops, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture, as well as forestry) in meeting national mitigation contributions and adaptation objectives, respectively. The results show that in all regions, these sectors will play a pivotal role in accomplishing the intended contributions and objectives for addressing the causes of and increasing resilience to climate change by 2030 and beyond. This INDCs analysis report provides an overview on how the agriculture sectors have been included in the INDCs/ NDCs. It outlines mitigation contributions with a particular focus on agriculture and LULUCF, vulnerabilities under climate change and priority areas and/or activities for adaptation in the agriculture sectors. Furthermore, this report summarizes information provided in the INDCs/ NDCs on Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA), mitigation-adaptation co-benefits and how countries have developed their INDCs and are planning to implement their NDCs. The aim of this analysis is to provide a basis for identifying priorities for international support for climate action in the agriculture sectors.