GODAN took part in the 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP22), which was held in Marrakesh, Morocco from November 7 - 18, 2016. At the high profile event, GODAN focused on continuing to increase awareness of using open data as a way to address challenges related to food security and agriculture.

Further analysis and updates after the event will soon be posted on the GODAN website.

What is the role of open data for food security, climate change and agriculture?

We are living in an information age where data is increasingly becoming an integral part of our lives. In the future data will likely play a more central role in many aspects of society. People and machines become more connected with the internet and farming will be no exception.

A new generation of precision agriculture generates masses of useful data if only we can find ways to share it meaningfully. Data will be instrumental in the support of concepts such as CSA. To be able to achieve investments in managing climate risks, understanding and planning adaptation and exploring ways to reduce GHG emission there is a need for information and knowledge exchange.

Unfortunately, for many parts of the world information is lacking because it has never been collected in the first place, or because there are barriers to making it freely available.

Investments in sourcing critical data sets and in making them open will be instrumental in achieving the CSA goals. Freely available information, especially in the context of developing countries can enhance the evidence based decision making for farmers and policymakers for better adaptation and mitigation. 

GODAN's goal for COP22:

• Advocate the availability of weather data to empower change
  • Release of existing non-digitized historical weather data for the improvement of existing weather prediction models and climate change models
  • Release of operational weather data in support of weather services that inform farmers with weather predictions for day to day operations
  • Release of climatic data that that can be used for the design of climate smart agriculture measure that are needed to respond to climate change.
• Advance the notion that the Global Goals (SDG's) of Food Security, Biodiversity on Land and Marine Biodiversity , and Climate Change are linked and that our global efforts should focus on how to implement measure that are advancing the all Goals together enough to achieve these on time. Open Data is a pre-requisite to be able to map existing and future efforts in relation to each other
• Advocate for open data to lead to innovations for worldwide food security. 
  • for open data to empower farmers and consumers
  • for the agriculture world to adopt open data

Sessions

The GODAN Secretariat will be present at the following sessions, and invites partners and others to join them. We sincerely look forward to working with everyone at these upcoming events: 

Note, some sessions may change over the coming days. 

November 9:

November 9th is themed as "FARMERS DAY" in the accredited BLUE ZONE      

The role of farmers in implementing the Paris Agreement
11:30—13:00, Observer room 2 (150) - Blue Zone

Economic advantage of agriculture in NDCs
18:30—20:00, Observer room 2 (150) - Blue Zone

November 10

Local solutions and innovative financial mechanisms in agriculture adaptation projects
18:30—20:00, Observer room 2 (150) - Blue Zone

November 11

GODAN’s Andre Laperriere will be speaking at two sessions:

• Welcoming Remarks (Plenary Hall)
  • 8:30 - 9:00 am
  • Alongside speakers Ahmed Nejemeddin (Université Hassan 1er), Prof. Dr. Mohamed Knidiri   (Université Privée de Marrakech), Kishan Khoday (UNDP), Oonagh Fitzgerald (CIGI)
• ​​​South-South Roundtable: Transparency, Food Security & Climate Instruments (Plenary)
  • 13:00-14:00 pm​
  • Co-chaired by GODAN & UNDP, with invited senior officials from Colombia, DRC, Kenya, the Philippines and other leading countries

November 12

November 13

November 14

November 15

November 16

November 17

November 17 is “Agriculture Day” in the Green Zone

What is COP 22?

“The COP stands for the "Conference of the Parties.” It is the supreme decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Entered into force in 1994, [it is] through this instrument, that the United Nations has equipped itself with an action framework to fight global warming.

About the UNFCCC

After its entry into force in 1994, the UNFCCC Secretariat was established in Geneva.  It was then relocated to Bonn in 1995 following the “First Conference of the Parties” (COP1) in Berlin. Since then, there have been twenty-one COPs, with the most recent one organized in Paris this past December.

The COP was created and put in place in order to structure the efforts of the Parties to the Convention as they address climate change. The COP meets annually to review and assess the implementation of the UNFCCC and any other legal instruments the body adopts with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fighting climate change.  These annual UN climate change conferences are commonly referred to as COP.

Preserving the environment for the benefit of present and future generations

The main objective of the Framework Convention and its related legal instruments are to stabilize the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent "dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system." The term "anthropogenic" refers to the effects caused by human activity.

The Convention stipulates,"Parties should protect the climate system for the benefit of present and future generations on the basis of equity and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities."

According to the UNFCCC, certain countries are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. For example, Small Island Developing States (SIDS), low-lying coastal areas, arid or semi-arid zones and developing countries with fragile mountainous ecosystems.These areas are subject to extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and desertification, etc.

Parties to the Convention have common but differentiated responsibilities

During the COP, member States, who have common but differentiated responsibilities, strive to reach agreements on reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity, assess the evolution of their commitments and review the implementation of the Framework Convention and other legal instruments that the COP adopts.  Typically a series of negotiating sessions are carried out beforehand in order to optimize the agenda and discussions.

As of today there are 197 Parties to the Convention (196 States and the European Union) including Palestine who joined in March 2016.”¹

Take part in the conversation:

If you can't attend COP22 this year, you can follow GODAN's actions at the event through our Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn pages. 

COP22 UNFCCC Virtual Information Hub

COP22 Live Webcasts

Daily Programme and Main Meetings Information

TWITTER: @godanSec

GODAN Team:

• @dianaszpotowicz
• @a_laperriere
• @benschp
• @ruthiemusker
• @michaelbrobbey7

Event hashtags:

• #COP22
• #ParisAgreement
• #climatechange

Further Reading:

GODAN's Highlights at COP21

Open Data and Climate Change - Agriculture Trends for COP21 

Climate Smart Agriculture and Open Data at COP21 

¹ http://www.cop22.ma/en/what-cop