US, UAE climate-friendly farming fund grows to $17 billion
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A worker harvesting cherry tomatoes at a sustainable farm in Sharjah, UAE, on Feb 1.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON – Funding for a United States and United Arab Emirates-led initiative to make the world’s farming more environmentally friendly and resilient to climate change has grown to more than US$13 billion (S$17.3 billion), a US official said on Monday.
The Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate) was launched in 2021 and had achieved commitments of US$8 billion in November 2022.
“Climate change continues to impact longstanding agricultural practices in every country and a strong global commitment is necessary to face the challenges of climate change head-on,” US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement.
He announced the latest funding figures alongside the UAE Minister for Climate and the Environment Mariam Almheiri and former US vice-president Al Gore at the AIM for Climate summit in Washington, DC on Monday
The UAE will host the COP 28 climate change conference in November and December 2023.
“We will make sure that COP 28 will be a game-changer for food systems,” Ms Almheiri told the Washington summit, which continues through to Wednesday and brings together officials from Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom as well as academics and company executives.
Mr Gore said it was important that funding for climate change innovation is disbursed equitably.
“Black farmers, indigenous farmers, low-income farmers, they need access to this innovation as well. We need to loop them into this,” he said.
About US$10 billion of the US$13 billion of investment in the agricultural fund is from governments. The rest is from non-government parties funding initiatives to support smallholder farmers, emerging technologies and methane reduction, a US Department of Agriculture spokesman said.
The fund seeks to unite nations to cut agriculture emissions, which account for about 10 per cent to 12 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions are from sources including livestock manure, machinery and fertiliser application, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. REUTERS
