SAN Climate Module

Criteria for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation

Dear friends of the Sustainable Agriculture Network,

The implementation of the Sustainable Agriculture Standard has provided positive social and environmental impacts and equally rewarding stable markets for farm producers in over 28 countries for more than 21 different agricultural products. The Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) Climate Module envisions continuing on this path with a specific set of voluntary climate change adaptation and mitigation criteria which supplement the existing Sustainable Agriculture Standard.

With support from Efico – a green coffee and cocoa trading company - Efico Foundation, and its partners: ANACAFE (Asociación Nacional del Café) and Universidad del Valle from Guatemala; Rainforest Alliance, FIIT and other members of the Sustainable Agriculture Network started addressing and identifying best management practices that local farmers can meet to adapt to and mitigate their impacts on climate change. Additional support has been received by Rockefeller Foundation to expand this work and field activities on coffee and cocoa farms in Ghana, Indonesia, Tanzania, Kenya and Brazil.

The Sustainable Agriculture Network has been developing a voluntary module that can be applied in all Rainforest Alliance Certified ™ farms. Certified farms are already making changes and efforts to reduce climate change risks and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and by implementing the module’s criteria, farmers will become allies in the fight against climate change and prepare themselves for global warming impacts while also involving businesses and consumers in promoting markets for crops from climate-friendly farms.

The SAN Secretariat is pleased to present the SAN Climate Module: Criteria for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation. This draft version is now being submitted to an international public consultation process, which follows the ISEAL Alliance’s requirements (http://www.isealalliance.org/).  

The SAN Climate Module can be implemented voluntarily by Rainforest Alliance Certified farms or groups in addition to the Sustainable Agriculture Standard and the Standard for Group Certification, when applicable. Compliance with the SAN Climate Module will be verified separately, or can be combined with certification audit processes. However, this module has no effect on a farm’s or farm group’s existing Rainforest Alliance Certified™ status.

Welcome to the public consultation process for the SAN Climate Module. The Sustainable Agriculture Network Secretariat invites you to participate actively in the single-round consultation period that will last 90 days. The consultation begins on July 15 and concludes on October 15, 2010.