COP22 in Marrakesh is closed

Yesterday, on November 18, COP22 was closed. The conference has continued the work done in Paris last year (COP21). During COP21 the major goals of the new climate agreement were set up. In Marrakesh roadmaps and tools on how to achieve these goals were negotiated. 189 countries have this far reported their climate commitments. Important issues raised in Marrakesh were how these commitments should be compared and the progress monitored.
 
All participating countries expressed their devotion to keep the goals from COP21. However, the reported climate commitments are not enough to keep the temperature increase below 2 degrees. No significant progress to step up these commitments was made during the conference. A major achievement was though that that many countries promised more funding for climate change adaption in vulnerable regions.
 
6 of the 10 most threatened countries by climate change are located in Africa and the initiative Adaption of African Agriculture (AAA) was emphasised during the conference by both the host country and FAO. The AAA initiative aims to help small-scale farmers in rural Africa by building resilience to climate change. 28 countries are already supporting AAA along with leading scientists and FAO. The initiative identifies agroforestry as an important tool when adapting African agriculture to climate change.