What does COP26 mean for the farming industry?

Last month, the Scottish city of Glasgow hosted the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26). The two-week long summit brought parties together, representing almost 200 countries, to make commitments to take action against climate change. After intense negotiations, the parties agreed to the Glasgow Climate Pact. The pact aims to limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, as per the Paris Agreement. It focuses on 4 main points: Mitigation, Adaptation, Finance and Collaboration. You can read the full document here.

Climate change and farming

Climate change has long had an impact on the farming industry. Increasing temperatures, erratic rainfall, changing growing seasons and extreme weather conditions can cause all sorts of issues. Yet the industry is also part of the problem. Greenhouse gas emissions such as methane and nitrous oxide being major contributing factors. So it’s in all of our best interests to work together against climate change, to protect nature and create a better future.

The Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture programme was established at COP23 in 2017 to address climate change in agriculture. Each year, the parties workshop key topics related to soils, nutrient use, water, livestock, methods for assessing adaptation, food security and socio-economic dimensions. At this years workshop, the governments were in agreement on many of the main issues. Covering topics such as soil and nutrient management, animal health and welfare and safeguarding food security. They planned to continue working towards sustainability in agriculture with a holistic approach, intending to adopt a decision in 2022. You can read about the agreements made here.

Moving forward

At COP26, there have been some positive steps forward and 45 countries have pledged to invest more than $4 billion in sustainable agriculture and food systems. We hope that the pledges made at the summit will lead to real action and real results.

We will be interested to see what developments COP27 brings next year, but until then we plan to do all we can to support ethical and sustainable food production in the farming industry. For example, feeding livestock on a natural, plant-based diet, not using chemical fertilisers and pesticides and processing our meat onsite. You can also support sustainable farming, by researching where your food comes from and buying from local, organic farms wherever possible. Together, we can make a difference!