In his opening speech, Head of the ASEAN Secretariat's Food, Agriculture and Forestry Division (FAFD) Dr. Pham Quang Minh underlined the sectors’ importance in addressing the issue of decarbonisation as part of the carbon neutrality strategy in the region.
As agriculture, forestry and land use has been a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, which causes global climate change, ASEAN has put the decarbonisation of the agriculture and forestry sectors as one of the key priorities under its cooperation, Minh said.
Florian Miss, Principal Advisor to the ASEAN Agritrade Project echoed that climate change has been a big challenge for the region and has affected the sustainable food system. He welcomed the initiative to move forward with the decarbonisation pathways and supported regional efforts toward that direction.
Participants proposed initial recommendations towards decarbonisation efforts in the agriculture and forestry sectors, including reducing farms using a lot of chemicals, enhancing efficient utilisation of resources, and promoting sustainable land management techniques.
They also emphasised the need to improve agriculture systems’ resilience by minimising unsustainable practices and promoting sustainable and circular agriculture which include nature-based solutions, ecosystem-based farming approach, and climate-smart agriculture practices.
Other initiatives proposed at the event included enhancement of sustainable forest management and promotion of reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, fostering of conservation and sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.
The workshop provided an overview of climate change impacts in agriculture and forestry, greenhouse gases emissions from agriculture and forestry, decarbonisation pathways and approaches, and policy recommendations towards decarbonisation efforts in ASEAN.
