CATIE at COP28: Director General manages cooperation partnerships in sustainable agriculture for Latin America and the Caribbean

• Meetings with global leaders and discussions on cooperation in biodiversity and sustainable practices mark CATIE's participation in the climate summit.

December 5, 2023. The COP28 climate summit has been the setting for CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center), through Muhammad Ibrahim, director general of CATIE, and Carlos Araya, director of Green Business Development, Resource Planning and Strategic Alliances, to hold strategic discussions with key stakeholders on the promotion of thriving markets for biodiversity, climate-smart agriculture and the implementation of innovative strategies to address climate change.

In this regard, they discussed the Biodiversity credits-Moving towards thriving nature markets program with senior authorities from Great Britain. CATIE representatives shared valuable insights from their experience and knowledge, highlighting their ability to scale these biodiversity credits towards thriving nature markets. - Moving towards thriving nature markets. Los representantes del CATIE compartieron insights valiosos provenientes de su experiencia y conocimiento, subrayando su capacidad para escalar estos créditos de biodiversidad hacia mercados de naturaleza prósperos.

The dialogue continued with a meeting with Oksana Tarasova, senior expert from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), in which they explored opportunities for cooperation in quantifying greenhouse gas emissions from livestock systems, highlighting the role of CATIE's Livestock and Environmental Management Unit in this area.

They also met with Graham Watkins, head of the Climate Change and Sustainable Development Division of the Inter-American Development Bank, with whom they discussed possibilities for cooperation on agricultural landscapes in Central America, as well as opportunities for climate-smart agriculture in the Caribbean.

CATIE at side event farming on sustainable livestock

CATIE's commitment to climate action will be most evident on December 9, when the Director General will speak as a panelist at the event entitled: Transformation of livestock production in the Central American Integration System (SICA) region.

This SICA forum, organized in collaboration with CATIE, will not only address advances in the sustainability of the livestock sector, but will also emphasize the importance of climate mitigation policies, such as Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) and low carbon livestock strategies.

This event will not only be a platform to share regional achievements but also to raise awareness on how to overcome barriers towards efficient and competitive development, with a lower carbon footprint in the productive sector. With a holistic approach, it is proposed to improve sustainable production management, emissions reduction, and agricultural profitability and productivity.

In addition, a success story from Honduras will be presented that illustrates the sustainable intensification of livestock production, improving productivity and conserving natural resources, while maximizing climate efficiency. This project, supported by more than 12 institutions and national counterparts, has had a significant impact in the region, influencing policy decisions.

International cooperation, fundamental in the development of these initiatives, will be highlighted by the Mitigation Action Facility (MAF), which will outline the impact and potential for scaling up these experiences in the region, working with the SICA platform.

CATIE, at this global summit, reinforces its role as a leader in the promotion of sustainable practices and the formation of strategic alliances, demonstrating its commitment to strengthening the agricultural sector and the implementation of effective climate policies in the region of Central America and the Dominican Republic.