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COP26: Agricultural food system emissions not adequately addressed

The climate conversation this past November was dominated by Glasgow Climate Impact (COP26) conference where 54 nations signed a pledge to protect nature. However, while various causes of climate change were addressed, agriculture was largely left out of the equation.

According to experts, the conference did not sufficiently address the direct impact of traditional animal agriculture on climate change. Government officials from across the globe acknowledged that it was necessary to shift to more sustainable farming methods, but there was no mention of people reducing meat and dairy consumption despite cows being the No. 1 source of greenhouse gasses from agriculture.

A report from Compassion in World Farming reported by the U.K. Independent said that global meat and dairy consumption must be dramatically curtailed in order to limit Earth’s rising temperatures to no more than 1.5C. And government officials were not completely oblivious to this connection. The United Kingdom’s government proposed levying a carbon tax on animal products like beef with high emissions footprints. However, within hours of this proposal coming to the floor, it was withdrawn.

Other countries outright declined to acknowledge the connection between the consumption of animal products and climate change. The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack said that Americans can continue consuming meat at current levels without tipping the scales on global warming. Currently, one-third of protein consumed by humans comes from animal products, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, and this proportion has increased steadily for decades. Between 1960 and 2010, mean consumption rose 200%.

The Guardian reported that many organizations within the U.K. also believed that new technologies can be leveraged to reduce methane emissions rather than reducing the number of cows. To help fund the creation of technologies that can combat methane emissions, U.S. president, Joe Biden and the UAE proposed $4 billion in funds for innovation aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Despite pledges to develop more sustainable means of farming, protestors lined the streets for days in Glasgow to bring government officials’ attention to the need for more significant investment in reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.

As the host of this year’s climate conference, the U.K. announced that it will launch a program to aid developing countries and small shareholder farmers to convert to more sustainable forms of farming, the Independent reported.