Reuters published a balanced article on the Fair Carbon Credits here.

Farmers seek new income from Fairtrade carbon credits

AlertNet (Thomson Reuters humanitarian news site)

Fairtrade farmers in the fight against climate change

Organic Market.info

Fairtrade’s Producer Networks Issue Statement Calling for Support on Climate Change

Fair Trade Resource Network

Fairtrade farmers call for fair climate finance

Tcktcktck.org

Fairtrade farmers in the fight against climate change

Fastmoving.co.za – South African retail site

Gold Standard and Fairtrade Broaden Market Access for Small Producers
Ecosystem Marketplace

Gold Standard and Fairtrade Broaden Market Access for Small …
www.forestcarbonportal.com

New climate change agreement to increase coffee farmer entry into carbon credit market

Global Coffee Review

Fairtrade Smallholders to Access Carbon Financing

Cooperative News

Fairtrade & Gold Standard Collaboration

Organicmarket.info

Producer Interviews

Follow the link below to view producer interviews

http://www.fairclimatedeal.net/cop18-fairtrade-farmers-feeling-effects-of-climate-change

“I am disappointed because we have put so much hope in finance and they are not making a decision, said Chief Adam Tampuri, a cashew nut producer and Chair of Fairtrade Africa. “I am surprised that the countries who have often helped us in times of disaster and famine are still hesitating to make finance for climate adaptation available. Surely we need to be engaging in preventative measures, instead of reacting when the damage is done?”

On a political level, little came out of the Doha talks to offer farmers or developing countries any cheer. There were no commitments from developed countries to cut their emissions further. There is still no significant money being put on the table to help developing countries adapt (despite a target of $100 billion a year by 2020). Even the impassioned plea of the Philippines negotiator, made as his country was battered by the umpteenth typhoon this year, did not lead to a shift in mind-set.

But away from the disappointment of the negotiations, there are many initiatives that give cause for hope.

At side events, in interviews and at round-table discussions, Fairtrade producers brought their real-life climate change experiences to the table. Tomy Mathew explained how fair prices for a whole range of Fairtrade products mean that farmers diversify, protecting variety and increasing their resilience to climate change. Carlos Vargas spoke passionately about the huge potential for hydroelectricity on coffee farms in Costa Rica, and his dream of making them all energy self-sufficient. Chief Adam shared the indigenous methods his cashew farmers are using to adapt to climate change. Each has a vision for their community and country. Each of them is connected to thousands of farmers and people in their villages and in their communities. If they just had some more cash and technical assistance they would implement measures in a shot.

Our new collaboration with The Gold Standard Foundation will give these producers welcome opportunities to benefit from the carbon market, and access finance that will help them carry out more carbon mitigation projects. We also secured backing from a group of European politicians in our call for more adaptation funds for smallholders.

And though this COP is over, our engagement certainly isn’t. We will continue to lobby governments, seek adaptation and mitigation finance and support our farmers in the fight against climate change.

Vicky Pauschert works in the communications department at Fairtrade International.

Announced at the climate change negotiations (COP18) in Doha, the move brings together two of the world’s leading voluntary standards, addressing a market and corporate need for clarity and simplicity in certification.

For farmers this means a welcome opportunity to receive financial support for their efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change on their farms and communities, such as tree planting, reducing use of fertilizers and improved soil management. Some Fairtrade farmers have seen yields decrease by up to 50 percent over the past year. Research suggests that, due to climate change, yields will continue to decrease, threatening farmers’ livelihoods, impacting food security and global supply chains.

“Rural communities and smallholders in developing countries contribute least to climate change yet are being affected the most and their efforts to mitigate are often not recognized,” says Andreas Kratz, Director of Strategy and Standards at Fairtrade International. “This new collaboration will deliver much needed finance, ensuring smallholders benefit from the carbon market and drive development that is fair to both people and planet.”

“The growing collaboration between ‘best-in-class’ standards represents what the market wants – streamlined and simplified processes and reduced transaction costs. This will scale up and fast-track sustainable resource management and low carbon development,” states Adrian Rimmer, CEO of The Gold Standard Foundation. “It’s the obvious choice for responsible corporates and project developers to make fair, transparent and credible environmental and social investments.”

The Fairtrade-Gold Standard collaboration marks a further cooperation between leading standards, following The Gold Standard’s collaboration with Forest Stewardship Council® on land use and forest carbon earlier this year.

 ENDS

Contact:

The Gold Standard Foundation

Tanya Petersen (at COP 18 in Doha)

Director of Communications,

Email: Tanya@cdmgoldstandard.org

Tel. +41 79 912 2447

 Fairtrade International

Vicky Pauschert

Communications

Email : press@fairtrade.net

Tel. (in Doha): +974 55218696 / +49 1725401676

Notes to Editors

• A study by the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) entitled Climate Change, Agricultural Adaptation and Fairtrade: Identifying the Challenges and Opportunities showed that climate change will have a negative impact on the global production of all the major Fairtrade products – including coffee, cocoa, bananas and tea.
• Fairtrade is the most widely recognized ethical label globally, according to a 2011 global study of 17,000 consumers in 24 countries carried out for Fairtrade by international opinion research consultancy GlobeScan. Nearly six in ten consumers (57%) have seen the FAIRTRADE Certification Mark. Those who know Fairtrade trust it: Nine in ten consumers who recognize the FAIRTRADE Certification Mark regard it as a trusted label.

About Fairtrade International

Fairtrade International is a non-profit organization that works with farmers and workers to improve lives through fairer trade. Fairtrade International develops the Fairtrade Standards, supports producers, and co-ordinates the international Fairtrade system. Members include producer networks which represent the interest of producers in the Fairtrade system and national organizations which promote Fairtrade to business and consumers in the countries of sale. The FAIRTRADE Certification Mark, a registered trademark, appears on more than 27,000 products in 120 countries. Over 1.2 million small farmers and workers in 66 countries benefit from Fairtrade. For more information, visit our website: www.fairtrade.net

About The Gold Standard Foundation

The Gold Standard is a globally recognised and trusted regulatory framework for the deployment of public and private capital into low carbon and development projects. Every project certified by The Gold Standard must monitor, report and verify both carbon savings and sustainable development benefits for local communities. This ‘carbon for development’ philosophy has been recognized by governments, business and civil society as the most effective approach. The Gold Standards 850+ projects represent more than 65-million tonnes of emission reductions and half a billion dollars investment in low carbon development.

Chief Adam Tampuri, Chairman Fairtrade Africa board

Nasser Abufarha, producer representative Middle East

Tomy Mathew, producer representative Asia & Pacific

Carlos Eugenio Vargas, producer representative Latin America

Jeroen Douglas, Solidaridad

Because despite the good yields, the families of Sonomoro have a common fear of what the future beholds, having noticed the change of weather patterns and how this has been impacting their crop yields. ‘We have recently experienced a period of drought which has reduced the flowering of our coffee plants, thus reducing our harvest,’ says Gloria Almonacid Baldeón. Rivers have been drying up in the area. The region is already affected by the El Niño and La Niña phenomenon and rain patterns have increasingly become unpredictable. Human activities are also contributing to the local climate conditions. Tree felling has been a common practice by the immigrants from the highlands.

As climate change is causing an increase in average temperatures, it is likely that coffee will no longer be a viable crop in the lower areas, even if adaptation interventions are promoted. Programmes are now being rolled out to help reverse the trend. Fairtrade International, TWIN trading and Lidl supermarket, jointly set up a training programme which teaches farmers techniques to adapt to climate change. And farmers are also taking matters in their own hands. Sonomoro members are trying to improve the fertility of the soil by ensuring that all of their household and farm waste is recycled into organic compost.

In order to protect his coffee plants from the hot sun Cipriano is also planting new trees. ‘We hope that the coffee will continue to flourish in the shade. By replanting native trees, we are helping to conserve the land, while ensuring that we can still derive an income from it.’

Read the full case study here.

 Fairtrade producers are calling on world leaders and decision-makers to ensure the most vulnerable get the support and finance they desperately need to adapt to the growing impact of climate change on their farms and communities.

In a statement on the eve of the UN Climate Conference (COP18) in Doha, Fairtrade’s producer networks from Africa, Asia and Latin America & the Caribbean paint the troubling picture of the challenges they are facing.

 As small-scale farmers, we are personally confronted by climate change on a daily basis. And as networks representing Fairtrade producers, we are receiving more and more reports from our members who are struggling with its effects. Hail and frost has destroyed tea plantations in the west of the Kenya, causing tea farmers to lose millions of Kenyan shillings. Lower yields and poor quality are causing many coffee farmers in Latin America to abandon their farms. And in Kerala, India, 40 % less rainfall this year threatens to drastically reduce Fairtrade farmer’s coffee and rice yields.

For vulnerable farmers, climate change is a daily reality that threatens their source of livelihood: agriculture. At the same time, lower yields of staple crops are driving up food prices, threatening their ability to feed their families. Action is needed, and fast. Fairtrade farmers are already taking measures to adapt, but still lack resources and technical expertise. Finance, such as Green Climate Fund, has been promised but it is failing to reach those who need it most.

 We are doing all we can to deal with the impact of climate change on our very livelihoods. We have planted shade trees to create buffer zones to deal with extreme temperatures and drought. We are applying indigenous methods,…we have been able to set up cook stoves that help us save wood, and solar lighting for our communities. But all these things cost money, and need technical expertise. And as the most vulnerable, our efforts to address climate change as well as our demands for support remain largely unheard.

Fairtrade producers are travelling to Doha to put forward these calls for action:

We ask the UNFCC and the international community to focus on adaptation as much as mitigation. We have experienced enough of the real effects of climate change, and they can no longer be avoided.

• We call on governments to ensure adaptation finance is made readily available to those that need it the most: rural, climate-vulnerable communities.
• We call on businesses to make investments in climate change adaptation at farm level to ensure the sustainability of their supply chains and to enable us to continue producing the food that will feed the world of tomorrow.

Read the full statement from producers here

Fairtrade producers from Africa, Asia and Latin America will be at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP18) in Doha, advocating for more finance to adapt to climate change and explaining how Fairtrade can be part of the solution.

We are hosting and taking part in several events, including a joint press conference and side event with Gold Standard Foundation and FSC, a Fairtrade reception and podium discussions. We will also have a booth in the conference centre and at the Agriculture, Landscapes and Livelihoods Day.  See Fairtrade international’s  events page for a full overview.

For more information, or to arrange an interview with Fairtrade producers at COP18, please contact Vicky Pauschert, Communications: v.pauschert@fairtrade.net , +49172 5401676

Read more about the effects of climate change on Fairtrade producers in our case studies

Being a member of Sonomoro has enabled Gloria Almonacid Baldeón to get a better price for her coffee. With the extra income Gloria has bought more coffee plants, sent her eldest daughter to university and they are hoping to improve their house. But despite these improved living standards Gloria is concerned about the future. Recently the area has experienced a lot of drought, reducing the flowering of her coffee plants and impacting her harvest.

‘I have noticed these changes over the last 2-3 years. I worry about more droughts in the future,’ she says.

Her worries are shared by many other members of the cooperative. But a new training programme is allowing them to take matters into their own hands. A project, jointly financed by Fairtrade International, TWIN trading and Lidl supermarket, is training farmers on useful techniques to deal with the changing climate – and is enabling them to then go out and train others.

Gloria and nine other members of the cooperative attended a Train-the-Trainer workshop on climate change in October. Over two days the farmers learnt different techniques to identify key changes in the climate. Farmers drew up seasonal calendars to illustrate the changes in, and drew up “challenge trees” to identify the key problems they were facing in coffee farming, but also the root causes behind them. The participants then identified their own priorities of what action they needed to take to help deal with the changing climate. Recycling coffee pulp and household waste for compost, increasing forests and shade-cover and creating barriers and using mulch for erosion control were just some of the actions agreed on.

Each trainer will now arrange an initial session for up to ten member farmers to attend. With funds from the project budget Sonomoro also bought land to be used as a demonstration plot. The plot consists of different areas with new and old coffee plants, with and without shade. In the next ten months the team will hold training sessions here to introduce farmers’ organic compost, reforestation and pruning of old coffee trees.

‘November, December and January used to be cold months in Costa Rica, but not anymore,’ explains Lucas Germán from ASOPROAGROIN. ‘Rainfall, which has increased dramatically, is washing away the fertile soil and damaging our pineapple crops.’

As a result, new diseases are destroying the plants while harvest time is becoming unpredictable, according to María del Mar Avilés from Apranoires in El Salvador: ‘The cashew harvest started two months earlier than usual and the rivers flooded a big portion of the crops, which has never occurred before.’

‘We don’t know any more when the rainy season will start or the dry season, we have food insecurity, our health centres are facing diseases we didn’t know about,’ adds Danilo Zavala from COCAOL in Honduras.

The overall reduction of the quality of their product and their inability to cope with lower yields is causing the farmers to migrate to urban areas. Unemployment as well as food insecurity are becoming increasingly a bigger threat as a result in Latin-America.