Workshop 5

Climate policies at the territorial level

Moderators : D. Barjolle (ETHZ & UNIL), S. Boillat (HAFL), S. Féret (IAMM), P. Luu (4p1000 Initiative), P. Mink (FOAG, One Planet Network SFS Programme), P. Mongondry (ESA – Erasmus Mondus Master Food Identity), F. Tartanac (FAO)

Sessions

1) Global initiatives offering networked intervention frameworks to rural territories

2) Analysis and discussion on the basis of examples or cross-cutting synthesis work on innovative local initiatives providing solutions for mitigating and adapting to climate change

3) Exchange of local experiences on innovative forms of inclusive multi-stakeholders’ governance, including on approaches linking food systems and climate policies in a systemic view

4) Climate issues in the political sphere and intervention methods: the challenges of a "just transition", in particular those of social justice in climate policies

1) Global initiatives offering networked intervention frameworks to rural territories

2) Analysis and discussion on the basis of examples or cross-cutting synthesis work on innovative local initiatives providing solutions for mitigating and adapting to climate change

3) Exchange of local experiences on innovative forms of inclusive multi-stakeholders’ governance, including on approaches linking food systems and climate policies in a systemic view

4) Climate issues in the political sphere and intervention methods: the challenges of a "just transition", in particular those of social justice in climate policies

Visits

1) Visit to a farm participating in the Terres Vivantes resource project in Courtételle

2) Round Table with J.P. Lachat (Service agriculture du Jura), F. Monin (AgriJura), and P. Monnet (Chambre Agri en France), in Courtemeon

1) Visit to a farm participating in the Terres Vivantes resource project in Courtételle

2) Round Table with J.P. Lachat (Service agriculture du Jura), F. Monin (AgriJura), and P. Monnet (Chambre Agri en France), in Courtemeon

Agriculture and food account for about a third of global carbon emissions. Global food systems have been shown to play an important role in reaching global limits. Moreover, current geopolitical tensions, and in particular Russia’s attack on Ukraine, have immediate consequences for the paths countries choose for their agricultural and food models.

With regard to climate pressures, the current observation is that the local response of territories is still limited. Most local institutions are consultation and implementation bodies, but have few decision-making and coordination powers.

The complexity of public climate policy gives it an inherent transversality, as it is strongly linked to other sectoral policies (agriculture, energy, mobility, rurality, economy, health and trade, etc.). Moreover, it is difficult to find measures that are both effective at the local level and at the wider systemic level, and that contribute to decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation.

The main problems posed by climate change in rural territories are related to policies designed at higher jurisdictional levels. These policies are remote from the territories, often poorly adapted to the local context, and thus hamper the possibilities of reducing emissions or providing incentives for adaptation. There is therefore a tension between public policies that aim for efficiency and equity and the complex reality on the ground.

To find solutions, it would seem virtuous to facilitate the implementation of new forms of governance, to strengthen mechanisms for citizen participation and multi-level consultations, and to work on public policies that address complexity holistically in terms of systems and support for innovative local initiatives (see for example the recent report on multi-stakeholder mechanisms by the SFS programme of One Planet Network).

The ODT forum is taking place in Switzerland, where a popular initiative proposing stricter measures at national level to reduce CO2 emissions was recently rejected in a popular vote. Within the voting population, there was a marked division, with strong opposition to the initiative particularly in rural areas and among disadvantaged urban social groups. The analysis of the reasons for the rejection of this initiative will be an opportunity to discover and reflect together on examples of virtuous policies defined and implemented at the scale of a territory, but sometimes defined or framed and promoted by global initiatives such as the “4 for 1000” initiative, whose mission is to promote carbon storage in agricultural and forest soils.

Workshop 5 aims to mobilise knowledge and experiences at local, national, regional and global levels, which can serve as examples and inspire actors at territorial level.

The workshop invites contributors to share and analyse examples of innovative forms of participatory and multi-stakeholder governance, drawing on global initiatives such as the One Planet Network’s sustainable food systems programme, the 4 for 1000 initiative or the Mountain Partnership