Climatisation of agricultural issues in the international agenda through three competing epistemic communities: Climate-smart agriculture, agroecology, and nature-based solutions

Abstract

While agricultural issues were almost absent from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted in 1992, a window of opportunity opened in favor of their inclusion in the climate agenda during the Conference of the Parties of Durban in 2011. During this period three concepts have emerged in climate agenda-setting: “climate-smart agriculture,” “agroecology,” and “nature-based solutions.” By tracing these three concepts (their origins and scientific and political progressions), we demonstrate that they fostered the “climatisation” of agricultural issues in the late 2000 s. These concepts frame agricultural adaptation and mitigation issues regarding climate change in specific ways. The two concepts of climate-smart agriculture and nature-based solutions are recent, while agroecology is a long-standing term that has recently regained popularity to analyze climate issues. These concepts are promoted by three distinct—and sometimes opposed—epistemic communities and contribute to reviving controversy permeating agricultural debates.