Organic Agriculture and Localized Food & Energy Systems for Mitigating Climate Change

EXCERPT:

Organic agriculture and localized food and energy systems not only mitigate climate change, but also involve major adaptations to climate change [6] such as increasing agricultural biodiversity and resilience to climate extremes, increasing stability of food and energy supply in climate emergencies, reducing dependence on water against drought, increasing percolation of flood water against soil erosion, and increasing habitats for wildlife against species extinction.

While the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) failed to mention organic agriculture or localised food systems for mitigating climate change [1, 7], its counterpart on agriculture, the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) has concluded that a fundamental overhaul of the current food and farming system is needed to get us out of the food (and fuel) crisis, that small scale farmers and agro-ecological methods are the way forward, and GM crops will not play a substantial role [8, 9] (“GM-Free Organic Agriculture to Feed the World”, SiS 38). Earlier in 2002, a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report said that organic agriculture enables ecosystems to better adjust to the effects of climate change and has major potential for reducing agricultural greenhouse emission [10].

LINK: http://www.i-sis.org.uk/OAMCC.php