24 May 2023, BANGKOK, Thailand – IRRI convened climate change thought leaders at the recently concluded AGRICONNECT Conference and Exhibition 2023 for a technical panel discussion titled “Regional exchange on carbon market regulations for the agriculture sector: Examples from Southeast Asia''. The discussion centered on the urgent need for inclusive and transparent carbon markets in order for countries to achieve their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and also highlighted the current state of carbon markets in agriculture and how NDCs can help improve international cooperation as stated under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
The goal of food systems transformation to achieve lower carbon emissions requires larger investments. Achieving NDCs can be difficult for developing countries that are limited by the fiscal technicalities of financing mechanisms, among other challenges (Khatri-Chhetri et al., 2021).
“Ensuring carbon markets are transparent and that farmers directly benefit from them should be a priority. This is particularly important when examining global finance flows for methane reduction and less than 1% is currently going to fund mitigation in rice production although rice is emitting more than 10% of global methane,” said IRRI Thailand Representative and Climate Change Specialist Dr. Bjoern Ole Sander.
To help developing countries achieve their respective NDCs, IRRI Climate Change Specialist Dr. Katherine Nelson highlighted that there is a need for “...more cross-country collaboration and learning on carbon market interactions that are aligned with countries' NDC goals and enable international climate finance that supports rural communities to transition to low-emission agriculture.”
The panel shared information and provided their perspectives on the carbon market in agriculture in order to support decision-making in view of national regulations. This was composed of representatives from various sectors including Ms. Amornrat Intrman, Director of Thailand Rice Science Institute, Thai Rice Department, Thailand who presented a carbon credit project for the rice case study, Dr. Tran Dai Nghia, Head of Natural Resources Economics and Environment, IPSARD, Vietnam on the “Challenges to developing a national carbon market”, and Dr. Prasun Kumar Das, Secretary General of Asia-Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA), Thailand on “Accessing the carbon credit market by smallholder farmers in Asia”.
Learn more about IRRI’s GHG Mitigation Initiatives at ghgmitigation.irri.org or download the IRRI 2022-2027 Climate Change Strategy.