Key findings and notes from the round table discussion on the IPCC report on climate change and land.
September 2, 2019, at the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, Stockholm, Sweden.
Overall the participants were satisfied with the report since it highlighted a number of ways in which improved management of the land use sector could help to mitigate climate change.
However, participants highlighted the essential need for good governance to make this happen in a sustainable way. There is also a tension between the need to consider the full range of other SDGs, to develop good governance, and to deal with very diverse land ownership patterns, including many smallholders, and the fact that we need to change so fast.
Participants also pointed out the regional differences in terms of opportunities, and the importance to engage financial institutions.
Points raised during the discussion:
• Concerning bioenergy, the report showed that we have a choice to make it part of the solution or part of the problem.
• We must engage with all the stakeholders and navigate a complex landscape, but we also need to change very quickly and it is difficult to reconcile these aspects.
• New ways to integrate the use of biomass into new production systems need to be found, and those already available need broader deployment.
• There is a need to develop a framework on where we want to go with the land management (framework for governing sustainable biomass/land use).
• Better trust is needed through good governance. Collaboration with financial institutions will be needed and they also need to be better incorporated in the related processes.
• We need to implement the solutions in the context of sustainable landscapes.
