CPM Focus Group on Climate Change concludes its first face-to-face meeting in Brazil

Manaus, Brazil. 24 October 2024. Meeting in person for the first time since its establishment, members of the CPM Focus Group on Climate Change and Phytosanitary Issues concluded its planning meeting which focused primarily on developing its action plan until 2026. The group has members from Brazil, Canada, the Cook Islands, Germany, Ghana, Nepal, the United Kingdom and the United States, and a representative from the CPM Bureau. Held on 7-11 October 2024, the meeting in Manaus in the State of Amazonas was organized by the Secretariat of Animal and Plant Health and Inspection (SDA), Brazil’s national plant protection organization. The SDA had offered to host the focus group’s in-person meeting during the Seventeenth Session of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM-17) in 2023.

The focus group discussed the positive feedback received during the highly successful webinar series it organized in September 2024, titled “Climate change and phytosanitary measures,” where a total of 1 023 virtual participants and 463 webcast viewers attended. The group assessed which specific topics around climate change and plant health that stakeholders might want to hear more about in future conferences or webinars. It was agreed that sending out a post-webinar survey to participants could best capture what topics would interest stakeholders.

At the Manaus meeting, each of the focus group members presented the national climate change adaptation plans in their respective countries, including Brazil, Canada, Germany, Ghana, Nepal, the United Kingdom and the United States. The focus group member representing the FAO Office of Climate Change, Environment and Biodiversity presented highlights of the FAO Climate Change Strategy 2022-2031.

To further raise awareness on the impact of climate change and plant health, the focus group planned the structure of a new webpage on the IPPC website as a repository of relevant materials and technical resources, such as external links to tools and data sources.

Most of the week-long meeting was spent on updating the focus group’s current action plan and mapping out its potential activities, given that its mandate was extended until 2026 at CPM-18 in April 2024. Among the key activities identified were to incorporate climate change considerations in the new pest risk analysis standard to be developed by the IPPC Expert Working Group; convene a side session at the next IPPC International Plant Health Conference or organize another global webinar; and establish linkages with other international organizations such as the International Panel for Climate Change and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. The focus group will present its updated action plan to the CPM Bureau in December for review and approval.

Finally, the focus group visited the Amazon FACE project, an open-air laboratory that simulates the worsening climate conditions by pumping artificial carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to test the resilience of the Amazon rainforest to higher carbon dioxide levels. Using the Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) technology, six experimental forest plots have been established, surrounded by a ring of metal towers. In three of the plots, carbon dioxide will be released to elevate the concentration to 200ppm above the ambient levels. Scientists will monitor how some plant species will change, adapt or die in the tropical rainforest and what impact this has on the fauna and general ecological function. Such data is instrumental in predicting how the Amazon will respond to climate change as well as in shaping global policies. Amazon FACE is managed by Brazil’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, with a £ 7.3 million funding from the United Kingdom through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

“It’s been a pleasure for all of the focus group members to meet in person and a welcome departure from our virtual monthly meetings which we’ve been having since 2021,” said Dominic Eyre, Senior Plant Health Scientist at the : Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), UK, and the focus group Chairperson. “This made our discussions more dynamic, interactive, interesting and productive. We were able to take stock of what the group has achieved so far, and what activities we should focus on in the next two years. As a group, we remain dedicated to ensuring that climate change impact becomes integral to conversations and work on plant health,” he added.

Financial support for the IPPC’s work on climate change is provided by Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Related information

CPM Focus Group on Climate Change and Phytosanitary Issues

Climate-change impacts on plant pests: a technical resource to support national and regional plant protection organizations

Assessing and managing climate-change impacts on plant health