Focus Area: A

Climate Change and Production Territory

Climate change and production territories represent the indicator of crop adaptability to the production environment. The adaptability to different production environments compared to climate change measures the resilience capacity of agricultural production.
The contribution of the agricultural sector to climate change is fundamental. For the territories of production a long phase of new planning of agricultural systems opens, of their insertion and of their effectiveness to mitigate the effect of the change.

Goal 13
Promote actions, at all levels, to combat climate change

Target 13.1
Strengthen in all countries the resilience and adaptation to climate and natural disaster risks
Target 13.3
Improving education, awareness and human and institutional capacity with regards to climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning

Goal 2
End hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Target 2.4
Ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, which help protect ecosystems, strengthen capacity to adapt to climate change, extreme weather conditions, droughts, floods and other disasters and improve progressively soil quality

Goal 12
Guaranteeing sustainable production and consumption patterns

Target 12.2
Achieve sustainable management and efficient use of natural resource

Action 1

Design for adaptation to climate change

Each production area is characterized by multiple microclimates that are characterized primarily by latitude and altitude. Furthermore, the microclimates are determined by the orography and exposure of the lands that make up the various areas.

The climate is also important for giving soils different types and conditioning the agricultural productivity of the territories.

The change in climatic situations can induce the shift of production areas and the adaptability of agricultural species.

To overcome the inconveniences caused by climate change, a series of actions can be implemented that could significantly change the future agricultural production framework.

The adaptability of agricultural systems to climate change can be sought through the use of improved plant varieties, more suitable livestock breeds, crop rotations and alternative production strategies.

Climate change can lead to changes in territorial suitability.

To overcome these effects that can be fatal for the landscape layout of the territories, the agronomic research proposes cultivars adaptable to the changed climatic reality and genetic selection techniques that can introduce species resilience and their maintenance on the spot.

In agriculture, changes in environmental conditions are related to decreases in production caused by diseases.

Many plant diseases are in fact associated with global warming, which has as a consequence the increase in temperatures, the change in the quantity and distribution of precipitation, the drought, the increase in CO2 and ozone levels. These modifications can have an impact on the incidence and severity of diseases and influence the coevolution of plants and their pathogens.

Several studies have already shown numerous examples of the effect of climate change in some pathosystems in the past, but current trends are also quite alarming.

The international scientific community is aware that our planet will have to face the impacts of climate change. This will probably happen even if greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions will be significantly reduced in the coming decades by implementing mitigation policies on a global scale.

In this context, the potential expected impacts of climate change and the main vulnerabilities in agriculture and forestry for the planet can be highlighted in the worsening of the already existing conditions of strong pressure on water resources, with a consequent reduction in the quality and availability of water; alterations of the hydrogeological regime that could increase the risk of landslides, mud flows and debris, rock collapses and flash floods; possible soil degradation and higher risk of soil erosion and desertification; risk of forest fires and droughts for forests; risk of loss of biodiversity and natural ecosystems; risk of flooding and erosion of coastal areas due to a greater incidence of extreme weather events and rising sea levels (also in association with the phenomenon of subsidence, of both natural and anthropic origin); potential reduction in agricultural productivity especially for wheat crops, but also for fruit and vegetables.

To this end it is necessary to design adaptation measures in order to prevent natural disasters, to manage natural resources in a sustainable manner and to protect the environment. In this sense, design must be sufficient to adequately address the consequences of climate change impacts. A coherent and clear strategic approach is therefore necessary for the implementation of an action plan that guarantees that the adaptation measures are adopted promptly, are effective and consistent in terms of sustainability.

Planning for adaptation to climate change must respect the general principles consolidated at global level. Although there is no univocal and commonly shared definition of “successful adaptation” or “optimal adaptation”, the principles of timeliness, effectiveness and sustainability must guarantee the achievement of objectives without at the same time creating negative repercussions in other contexts or sectors involved.

Activable Pilot Projects

Pilot Projects may concern one or more targets of the objectives identified as well as one or more general indicators. For the purposes of verification and measurability and related accounting in the definition of the executive design, specific indicators will be identified among those defined in the Global Indicator Framework 2019 of the SDG.

The pilot projects that can be activated in Action A.1 are the following:

1) Implementation of production techniques of some specific crops aimed at mitigating the greenhouse effect;

2) Design strategies in order to modify agricultural and productive systems in response to current or expected climate stimuli in order to reduce the effects and exploit the opportunities.

3) Introduction of company information systems for management and monitoring of the production area.  

4) Consumer information and education strategies aimed at a greater awareness useful to direct the food demand towards seasonal productions with a lower production impact in view of a better sustainability of agricultural productions.