By many accounts, the twenty ninth Convention of the Events to the United Nations Framework Conference on Local weather Change (COP29) was a disappointment. Not solely did it fail to succeed in an settlement on the follow-up on fossil fuels, it additionally failed to decide to the local weather finance wanted to succeed in internet zero.
The agri-food trade, one of many largest emitters of worldwide greenhouse gases (GHGs), shall be left under-galvanised if regional blocs like Asean don’t step up.
The agri-food sector, which contributes a 3rd of GHG emissions, requires pressing motion. Southeast Asia’s agri-food methods contributed 5.2 per cent of worldwide emissions in 2021. If the sector is left unchecked globally, reaching international or nationwide local weather objectives can be inconceivable, even when all fossil-fuel burning had been to cease right now.
With international management lagging, as seen at COP29, it’s time for regional blocs to spearhead urgent actions wanted to realize local weather objectives. Southeast Asia, being significantly susceptible to local weather change, can not afford not to take action. The worsening local weather is already wreaking havoc within the area. For instance, the Philippines has seen an unprecedented six typhoons in a month.
Asean is not any small bloc. With a inhabitants of 670 million, it has extra individuals than the European Union, with 450 million. Importantly, Asean is on its technique to turning into the fourth-largest financial bloc on the earth by 2030, so any constructive influence can have implications for different areas.
Leveraging local weather financing is essential to Asean reaching its objectives. Nevertheless, in accordance with the International Alliance for the Way forward for Meals, meals methods obtain solely 2.5 per cent of worldwide public local weather finance. In response to the Asian Growth Financial institution (ADB), Southeast Asia has traditionally acquired solely 5 per cent of local weather finance to Asia. Meals and agriculture obtain solely a fraction of the entire finance (see Determine 1).
Meals and agriculture get a small slice of the pie. Determine 1: Distribution of local weather finance in Southeast Asia, 2018-2019 (US$ billion)Supply: ADB Notice: AFOLU refers to Agriculture, Forestry, and Different Land Makes use of.
Funds will possible stay tight with appreciable international competitors in a tepid funding atmosphere. The Meals and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO) has calculated that US$1 trillion a 12 months is required till 2030 to satisfy net-zero targets. Nevertheless, in 2022, the sector acquired solely US$29 billion.
In response to one other report, there’s a 45 per cent financing hole for Southeast Asian agricultural small- and medium-sized enterprises yearly. Personal sector finance tends to focus on technological fixes and never ecosystem-wide enhancements.
On the Singapore Worldwide Agri-Meals Week in mid-November 2024, a typical grouse at breakout discussions was the drop in deal stream in comparison with earlier years. Globally, agri-food tech start-up funding in 2023 was down 49.2 per cent in comparison with 2022, and Asia was significantly badly hit.
One other supply of disappointment is that the follow-up from COP28 to make use of current local weather financing as a substitute of discovering new sources has not occurred.
The ADB report, Local weather Finance Panorama of Asia and the Pacific, recognized that Southeast Asia’s main obstacle to accessing local weather finance is the weak coverage and enabling atmosphere for local weather motion, in addition to weak institutional and planning frameworks that help a pipeline of bankable, high-quality local weather tasks.
ADB really useful extra transparency, knowledge availability, monitoring, and reporting. A key step to handle that is integrating local weather plans into sector plans, together with agriculture and meals.
That is the place Asean’s management shall be key. Underneath Malaysia’s chairmanship in 2025, Asean will pursue enhancements in commerce and investments, create inclusive and sustainable pathways, promote built-in and linked economies, and develop a digitally resilient Asean.
Aligning with this, Malaysia has prioritised the Imaginative and prescient of Asean Agriculture: In direction of 2045 as considered one of its Precedence Financial Deliverables, and is embarking on a brand new five-year (2026 to 2030) motion plan on Meals Agriculture and Forestry.
It might be prudent to steer Asean agricultural ministers in direction of a shortlist of high-impact tasks and supply the steering and instruments to develop their funding readiness and bankability. For instance, Asean nations may give attention to low-carbon rice.
The mitigation potential for rice (48 metric tons of carbon dioxide equal or MtCO2e yearly) is way larger than that of livestock (9.4 MtCO2e) and croplands (0.8 MtCO2e). Rice constitutes 36 per cent of all emissions, in comparison with livestock’s 9 per cent and croplands’ 3 per cent. Solely Vietnam has pledged to cut back GHG emissions from rice by a quantum of 1 million hectares by 2030 as a part of its Nationwide Decided Contributions.
With these in hand, Asean can join member states to local weather finance, together with these arrange at earlier COPs. For instance, it may leverage the Inexperienced Local weather Fund (arrange at COP16) or the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Local weather (arrange at COP28). The latter has elevated its funds for climate-smart agriculture to US$29.2 billion from the US$17 billion introduced final 12 months.
This 12 months’s COP launched a finance-matching initiative — the Baku Harmoniya Local weather Initiative for Farmers. It serves as a platform aggregating over 90 networks and partnerships to assist farmers give you initiatives for local weather motion within the agri-food system.
With its give attention to rural communities and girls, it’s related to Southeast Asia’s 100 million smallholder farmers. Asean may draw on these choices to fund analysis and growth, climate prediction, technological options and infrastructure enhancements to construct a sustainable and resilient agri-food system.
Malaysia plans to current the Asean Joint Assertion on Local weather Change at COP30, which shall be held in Belém, Brazil, on the mouth of the Amazon River. The convention will possible highlight the pressures of agriculture growth into the Amazon forest.
This problem is much like these confronted in Southeast Asia. Because the incoming chair, Malaysia may additionally promote better inter-bloc local weather cooperation earlier than COP30 to minimise any deficiencies anticipated on the assembly. It will be an opportune second to focus on and showcase Asean’s robust dedication to meals, agriculture, and forestry to draw much-needed financing for the area’s pressing local weather challenges.
Elyssa Kaur Ludher is a Visiting Fellow with the Local weather Change in Southeast Asia Programme, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute.
Paul Teng is a Visting Senior Fellow within the Local weather Change in Southeast Asia Programme of ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. He’s additionally Dean and Managing Director of NIE Worldwide, Nanyang Technological College Singapore.
This text was first revealed in Fulcrum, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute’s blogsite.
