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Deal or no deal, farmers and others are getting on with the job of adapting to a warmer world
The U.N. climate talks in Cancun have entered their final day, and it's still anyone's guess as to whether agreement will be reached on any of the major issues in front of negotiators – whether to continue the Kyoto Protocol, how to manage an initial $30 million in climate assistance to poorer countries, what shape an agreement to try to curb tropical deforestation should take.
But away from the main conference rooms, there's a lot of promising news.
As negotiators argue over the intricacies of wording, and countries continue shifting their positions to get the best possible deal from any eventual new global treaty to curb climate change, action in the real world is passing them by.
In India, for example, poor farmers in drought-prone Andhra Pradesh have introduced new crops and farming methods that boost yields while improving carbon storage in the soil. Drought-tolerant mango trees are boosting their incomes and reducing their vulnerability to climate pressures, and biogas units are providing power.
Better yet, India's high-tech savvy has helped produce computerised systems to track the farmers' efforts at reducing emissions and storing carbon – accurately and in enough detail that they are now receiving 1.2 million euros from a European energy company, which will allow them to build thousands of emissions-saving biogas units.
"Five years ago, I would have said it can't be done. But it's do-able," said Richie Ahuja, India programme manager for the U.S.-based Environmental Defense Fund, which has supported the project and is now working to scale it up across the South Asian country.
GRASSROOTS ACTION
Similar grassroots efforts are springing up everywhere in the world, with farmers, small businesspeople and women's groups – as well as cities, states and provinces – pushing ahead with action on climate change even as prospects for a new global climate treaty are pushed further and further into the future.
National emissions trading systems are being launched - South Korea's got off the ground just last week. Kenya now mandates solar power in new homes. Pioneering micro-insurance programmes are helping poor farmers in places like Ethiopia and the Philippines reduce their climate risks.
That's good news for the world's poorest and most vulnerable, who are already facing worsening droughts, floods and other climate impacts, and need solutions now.
But are today's efforts going to be enough as temperatures continue to rise?
A growing number of scientists believe the world is now on a path toward a 4-degree Celsius increase by the end of the century – a jump twice that considered relatively safe in terms of protecting coastlines from sea-level rise and avoiding the worst effects of climate change, including more extreme weather, flooding and droughts.
Because of those concerns, just about everyone agrees that a new international climate agreement is still important, to pressure countries to live up to their promises on emissions reductions and to provide a framework for mechanisms like carbon markets and the distribution of international climate aid.
But while negotiators slog away, always talking of next year, there's still plenty of progress – it's just happening outside the conference centres, in the real warming world.
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