Fri, 18 Dec 2009

Sekem Group CEO confident about climate agreement in Copenhagen

COPENHAGEN (NNA) – Despite the continuing uncertainty over its outcome on the last day of the climate summit in Copenhagen, the member of the Egyptian delegation and CEO of the Sekem Group, Helmy Abouleish, has said he is confident that there will be a result in Copenhagen which will also include his particular area of concern, agriculture.

Speaking earlier in the week, Abouleish said: “I am certain that a result will be achieved in Copenhagen, including agriculture. The widespread international attention being paid to the talks means that no politician can afford to let the talks fail.

“However, Copenhagen is only the first step in setting the direction for a sustainable environmental policy, consumers and business also have to play their role,” the Sekem CEO added.

Following very difficult negotiations over the last two weeks, world leaders, gathered in Copenhagen for the last day, have been engaged in make-or-break talks to try and produce a face-saving outcome to the climate conference.

Sticking points are the extent to which the rich nations should cut emissions of greenhouse gases, and whether the poor nations should also have to curb emissions, and the way that funds should be provided to help mitigate the effects of climate change on the developing world. The poor nations want direct aid while the rich countries favour schemes like carbon trading.

In Copenhagen, Abouleish worked in particular for an increased role of agriculture in any new global agreement. Although it had already been discussed in Kyoto in 1997, there were still few methods to reward low-emission forms of cultivation. The simplification and extension of such incentives could lead to rapid results in the form of emission savings, he said.

How agriculture would be integrated into a new protocol was still open, the Egyptian delegate said. One reason for that was the different approaches of the various countries.

Whereas the South American countries were focusing on forestry, other countries were emphasising the need of soil and humus development: “All negotiating partners in the field of agriculture and forestry must take responsibility,” Abouleish warned. Deforestation had to be stopped immediately and financially rewarded.

But at the same time there had to be a clear timetable for clarifying the technical details for the comprehensive inclusion of the soil in any agreement. In addition, everyone had to ensure that alongside emissions other social and ecological aspects were taken into account so as to avoid one-sided systems which, although they reduced emissions, had other negative effects.

In an interview on occasion of World Climate Day, Abouleish had called on all decision-makers to include carbon sequestration in soils, forestry, and sustainable land management in the climate treaty.

“There is a continuing risk that conventional agribusiness will hijack current developments, leading to undesirable developments such as giant monocultures,” Helmy Abouleish said, calling on organic producers to take action.

“The task of preventing this through holistic concepts can only be done by enterprises, associations and research institutions acting together,” Abouleish concluded.

The Sekem Group would continue to be involved in this movement nationally and internationally, he said.

Taking a longer-term view, Abouleish said that whatever the outcome of Copenhagen, the technical and implementation working groups had to build on any result to bring the talks to fruition. It would only become clear at that point whether organic forms of cultivation would play a role – “an important point which the organic sector as a whole would do well to work to achieve,” the Sekem CEO concluded

END/nna/cva

Item: 091218-01EN Date: 18. December 2009

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