A new Agriculture Climate Alliance has been formed at the conference in Dubai, as farming groups in Australia and New Zealand are pushing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and “adapt to climate change.” The peak Australian body representing farmers and agriculture in Australia has signed up to the Agriculture Climate Alliance at COP28 in Dubai. In an inaugural statement, the alliance says farmers from “around the world are at the front line of climate change.” The alliance also includes Federated Farmers New Zealand and the Federation of Rural Associations of Mercosur (FARM), which includes groups from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Columbia.
The alliance is calling on the government and civil society to develop and implement voluntary, market, and incentive-driven emissions reduction policies. Additionally, they are calling for a rapid increase in investment in climate research and a fair distribution of new technologies and practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Further, they want to see the fair distribution of new technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, recognition of the role of livestock in the global agri-food system, and a reduction in pre- and post-farm gate food waste. The new alliance said “effective policies” and the “right support” would enable farmers to capture the benefits of a low-carbon economy.
The 2023 United National Climate Change Chance conference in Dubai is running from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12. Early in the conference, 134 countries covering 70 percent of the world’s land signed the Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action. Australia, along with the European Union, Brazil, China, and the United States, signed up to this agreement, which committed to integrating food into climate plans by 2025. CEO of World Resources Institute Ani Dasgupta said on Dec. 1, βItβs a big deal that 134 countries today agreed to put food at the heart of their climate plans at the annual UN climate summit.”