Speaker, I would like to start by warning the House or mentioning to the House the danger of the viewpoints tabled by the ACDP on climate change. I would, therefore, like to draw your attention to the fact that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, reports make it quite clear that climate change is due to human emissions as far back as 1700, and that more than 90% of the world's scientists agree with this standpoint.
I would like to focus on agriculture in a post-2010 Kyoto Agreement, today, while the agricultural sector is very vulnerable to being significantly impacted on by climate change. At the same time, it plays a major role in contributing solutions to climate change. In order for this potential to be realised the DA recommends that agriculture must be included in any post- 2012 Kyoto Protocol Agreement. Farmers interact daily with the environment and they are thus well-placed to implement sustainable agricultural practices that can help to adapt and mitigate climate change.
The specific nature of agriculture has to be recognised and must be differentiated from other sectors. The origin, monitoring and reporting of an emission from agricultural land is inherently different from that associated with fossil fuels and farmers should not be penalised for natural emissions that are beyond human control. As a result of its low profitability, agriculture cannot compete with other sectors in terms of cost-efficiency in reducing greenhouse gas, GHG, emissions, unless its carbon sequestration and displacement potential is recognised.
Let me quickly look at agriculture and the four pillars of a post-2010 Kyoto Agreement: Firstly, agriculture has the potential to mitigate. Many studies have acknowledged that the GHG sequestration by agriculture is a quick and cost-effective means to mitigate emissions.
Secondly, to optimise the mitigation potential in agriculture, it is crucial to take into account that the biggest mitigation potential of agriculture should be expected in terms of improvements and efficiency of agricultural productivity. Rewarding farmers for carbon sequestration will enhance the carbon storage potential of the sector and there is a need to establish a voluntary carbon credit system to reward farmers for their contributions to climate mitigation.
Agriculture, however, needs support to adapt to the effects of climate change. It is the DA's view that government should be actively involved in developing and enhancing strategies to support farmers in their daily adaptation to climate variations, including the following: Shifting from crisis management to risk management systems, which must include early warning systems; awareness raising campaigns and crop insurance schemes; ensuring adaptation at farms to maintain food security, as climate change has severe effects on biological and hydrological cycles, in particular on water availability; policy decisions should be scientifically based, available and developed; the generation and the dissemination of farm- specific climate change information must be enhanced; and there needs to be an increase in the profitability of farmers to enhance their adaptation capacity.
An ambitious financing framework is required. The following financial mechanism should be distinguished: Firstly, a financing mechanism to provide positive incentives for the implementation of climate-friendly agricultural practices and technologies which must include the following: Rewarding farmers for using sustainable agricultural practices which reduce the impact of agriculture on the climate; rewarding farmers for providing ecosystem services; and creating a fair international voluntary carbon market, giving farmers access to fair prices for carbon dioxide, CO2, emissions mitigation through Clean Development Mechanism, CDM, projects.
With regard to the funding mechanism for small-scale farmers they should be given assistance to adapt to climate change by supporting aggregate agencies to cluster individual farmers to get access to financial mechanisms, funding carbon markets and mainstreaming climate changes relating to efforts into development projects.
Lastly, make technology cheaper, more efficient and accessible to farmers. In order to reach this goal, improved technologies along with appropriate education and extension services for farmers are needed. Appropriate incentives are needed to support the implementation of existing climate- friendly technology and specific actions in this can be included.
To conclude, agriculture has the potential to provide significant change in climate solutions. Therefore, the role of agriculture in combating climate change is of the utmost importance and must be recognised as such within a post-2010 Kyoto Agreement. I thank you.