Agriculture and Trade in the Climate Change Negotiations

The document examines the conflict between developed and developing nations regarding the integration of agriculture into climate agreements. It highlights fears from G-77 countries that internationally agreed 'good practice' standards for agricultural emissions could be used as unilateral trade barriers or non-tariff restrictions. The report also addresses concerns over food security, price increases, and opposition to market-based mitigation mechanisms, suggesting that referencing Article 3.5 of the Convention may provide a viable legal compromise to build trust and advance negotiations.

• Developing countries fear that defining 'good practice' in agriculture for climate mitigation will create internationally agreed standards that importing nations could later use as unilateral trade barriers, such as bans, higher tariffs, or eco-labels.
• There is a significant rift between developed countries (such as Canada, New Zealand, and Switzerland) and the G-77/China over whether agriculture should be treated as a separate issue or remain under the 'cooperative sectoral approaches' agenda item of the Bali Action Plan.
• Net-food-importing developing countries are concerned that new low-carbon agricultural production methods could increase the cost of production and lead to higher global food prices, threatening food security.
• A small group of developing countries, specifically the ALBA group, strongly opposes the use of market-based mechanisms and offsets for agricultural mitigation, citing issues with non-permanence, additionality, and leakage.
• Concerns regarding agricultural trade are exacerbated by broader climate negotiation tensions, specifically regarding 'emissions leakage' and border carbon adjustments, such as those proposed in the U.S. Waxman-Markey bill or EU aviation policies.
• The author suggests that the most viable compromise to resolve trade disputes in the negotiations is to explicitly reference Article 3.5 of the Convention, which prohibits measures that constitute arbitrary discrimination or disguised restrictions on international trade.

APA

Cosbey, A. (2011). Agriculture and Trade in the Climate Change Negotiations. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/food_security_agriculture_trade.pdf

Chicago

Cosbey, Aaron. Agriculture and Trade in the Climate Change Negotiations. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2011. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/food_security_agriculture_trade.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Cosbey |first1=Aaron |title=Agriculture and Trade in the Climate Change Negotiations |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=November 2011 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/food_security_agriculture_trade.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cosbey2011agriculture, author = {Cosbey, Aaron}, title = {{Agriculture and Trade in the Climate Change Negotiations}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2011}, month = nov, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/food_security_agriculture_trade.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }