COP 25: Our Commitment to the Paris Agreement
By Keith Heidecorn
Every year since 1977 when the Kyoto Protocol established legally binding obligations for developed countries to reduce and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, the UN has convened world leaders to assess progress and take meaningful actions to fight climate change. This year’s Climate Change Conference (COP25) started yesterday in Madrid and follows a series of reports on current impacts and future predictions. Last week’s UN Emissions Gap Report predicted that global temperatures could rise by as much as 3.2⁰C by the end of this century–far above the 2⁰C that world leaders agreed to in Paris to avoid widespread and catastrophic climate events. If we fail to meet the Paris Agreement target, there will be dramatic and dire changes to life as we know it. As just one example, severe droughts, floods and extreme temperatures will disrupt our food system by changing how, where, and when crops are grown. Farmers already impacted by climate change will find it even more difficult to increase food supply for a growing population. Finding solutions that enable us to keep average global temperatures below 2⁰C is one of the greatest challenges we face and there will be urgent calls In Madrid to make serious progress on climate action over the next two weeks. Locus Agricultural Solutions will be joining world leaders at COP 25 and participating in a special Roundtable event hosted by the Marrakech Partnership on how to transform food and agriculture systems into essential climate solutions. By regenerating soils with our global award winning microbial solution, we have demonstrated that our technology can be used to accelerate the amount of carbon being sequestered in croplands. Farmers that are using it are getting healthy soils that produce more resilient crops, increased yields, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Our goal in Madrid is to share our subject matter expertise with an international audience and highlight our commitment to provide the industry with a breakthrough technology that can be used to help meet the 2⁰C target and increase food security. Make sure to follow us on social media over the next week and half as we provide updates from the frontlines in Madrid.