Catch the Carbon projects to be presented at several side events of COP28

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry will organise two side events and act as a partner in several other events at the UN Climate Conference COP28 in Dubai. The programme themes are sustainable food systems, climate change adaptation and low-carbon construction.

Knowledge and competence produced in the Catch the Carbon projects with a particular focus on food production will be presented on Sunday 10 December. During the day, two interrelated programmes will be organised under the headings Same Questions, Different Solutions: Changemakers of Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Food Systems at the Finland Pavilion and Circularity in Food Systems – Climate Sustainable Solutions for Future Food Production at the Nordic Pavilion. The first programme will be organised together with the World Farmers’ Organisation WFO.

The focus of the side events will be on practical solutions. They will bring together a variety of actors from different parts of the world: scientists, farmers, authorities and activists. The Catch the Carbon package of climate measures will be represented by Senior Scientist Titta Kotilainen from the Natural Resources Institute Finland, who participates in the Food without Fields project, and ‘carbon farmer’ Mika Malin, who participates in the Adaptive Carbon Farming (HITTI) project.

The other participants in the programmes are Finland’s Youth Delegate for Climate Hanna Höijer, young farmer Mark Kiprono from Kenya, Kati Anttalainen, Senior Specialist at the Ministry of Education and Culture, young farmer and Ambassador of the Fair Trade Association Shashila Dilani from Sri Lanka, Nancy Rapando, Africa's Food Future Initiative Lead, WWF, and Éliane Ubalijoro, Chief Executive Officer of the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry CIFOR-ICRAF. The events will be moderated by Kati Partanen, Member of the Board of Directors of WFO and the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners MTK, and Staff Scientist Mika Jalava from Aalto University.

Food is also the key theme in Finland’s official side event Food, Health and Climate, which will be held on Monday 11 December in cooperation with the Nordic Council of Ministers. The agenda will include a high-level panel discussion, where Finland will be represented by Minister of Climate and the Environment Kai Mykkänen.

On Saturday 9 December, Chief Specialist Anna Salminen from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry will participate in a panel discussion related to climate change adaptation at a side event organised by the Icelandic Meteorological Office under the heading Mainstreaming adaptation at the local level – the role of national and regional authorities and Nordic cooperation.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry also participated in a programme that focused on low-carbon construction, organised in cooperation with UNECE/FAO.

The main themes of the Climate Conference COP28 are emission reductions, climate change adaptation and climate finance. The agenda also includes the Global Stocktaking of the Paris Agreement.

Read more about the side events and follow them online

Inquiries:
Virva Luoto (side events): virva.luoto@gov.fi, +358504775444
Anna Salminen (negotiations; availability may vary), +358504676272