Among the discussions held at the COP28 conference of the parties on climate change, held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, a document, later recognized as apocryphal, was circulated, which concluded by declaring rural activities to be major polluters and the main causes of global warming. an agreement allegedly signed by 13 member countries, leading to its elimination. We did not imagine that the detractors of agriculture would bring this issue to an international forum of such magnitude in front of delegates from 198 countries, some of which are represented by heads of state. Animal husbandry suffered the most, with dangerous emissions of unwanted methane attributed to cattle in barns or open grazing.

There are frequent anti-agrarian demonstrations by extreme ecological groups that manage to incorporate their erroneous statements into official theses., reaching representations of currents of thought, dominating high official levels at transcendental summits to attract global attention. It is a good moment that reason prevailed on this occasion and 134 countries signed a commitment called the Declaration of the United Arab Emirates on Agriculture, Food and Climate, in which societies and their rulers are called for the first time to include these segments in their plans. conservationists.

Climate change negatively affects a large part of the population and intensively affects vulnerable cities and communities. It cannot be denied that agricultural practices add harmful effluvia, although this contribution is minimal, its magnitude could be determined after the balance between what they cause and what soils capture atmospheric carbon during production processes, which is useful for the improvement of people and food supply. We agree with the Uruguayan Minister of Livestock, Fernando Mattos, when he said: “In recent decades, we have been victims of very damaging attacks on the image of the agricultural sector, trying to hold it responsible as one of the biggest producers of greenhouse gases. emissions (GHG), when it is the only productive sector of the economy that is essential for food security and must be interpreted as it is: a sector that captures carbon.”

The United Arab Emirates and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have launched a $200 million partnership for agricultural research, innovation transfer and technical assistance to implement the Dubai Declaration on Agriculture. It is worthy of applause and admiration that the President of COP28, Sultan Al Jaber, in his first speech to the world, announced the release of 2.5 billion dollars to enrich the compensation fund for nations affected by climate disasters with mitigation and adaptation measures manifested in direct cash transfers to affected farmers extreme weather events, in which Ecuador is a repeated victim, must access this aid after diplomatic efforts with the active intervention of the Ministry of Agriculture. (OR)