Rome, Italy \u2013 Today, over 90 environment, development, food and agriculture groups called on governments to urgently slash agricultural emissions by supporting a \u2018just transition\u2019 away from industrial agriculture to a food system based on agroecology.[1] The open letter issued at the start of the UN\u2019s flagship livestock conference at the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome comes weeks before world leaders gather for the COP30 climate talks. Failure to act will render it impossible to restrict the global temperature rise to the 1.5\u00b0C limit or protect vital ecosystems like the Amazon.<\/p>\n\n
At the conference entrance, Greenpeace Italy activists staged an intensive livestock farm complete with pink smoke to reflect rising methane emissions and sound effects to demand a just transition away from industrialised meat and dairy production. Delegates were greeted by 10 large cages containing activists dressed as cows and pigs with placards saying \u2018Farms not Factories\u2019, \u2018Just Transition: Agroecology Now\u2019 and \u2018Big Meat and Dairy are Cooking the Planet.\u2019<\/p>\n\n
Shefali Sharma, Campaigner, Greenpeace International said:<\/strong> \u201cIndustrial agriculture is polluting water, depleting soils, razing forests and turbo-charging global warming. Yet meat and dairy giants keep pushing limited techno-fixes and false solutions while blocking the real transformation our food system needs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n \u201cWith COP30 on the horizon, world leaders must stand up to these vested interests and act to keep us within the 1.5\u00b0C Paris limit. That means shifting agriculture toward farming that restores ecosystems and supports rural communities, and away from the extractive model that is destroying them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Noting the IPCC finding that food systems are responsible for up to 37% of global greenhouse gas emissions, signatories to the letter argue that \u2018To meet climate, biodiversity and pollution goals and uphold human rights, we must fundamentally transform how we produce, distribute, and consume food.\u2019[2] Signatories call on governments to \u2018incentivize agricultural practices that restore ecosystems, support biodiversity, and ensure access to healthy and nutritious foods for all.\u2019<\/p>\n\n Million Belay, General Coordinator, Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA)said: <\/strong>\u201cThere is a major push by global agribusiness and donors to intensify and industrialise African livestock and agriculture. But adopting the Global North livestock model affects both our health and the environment as it drives deforestation, and greenhouse gas emissions, and contaminates our lands with manure and chemicals, and antibiotic resistance through routine drug use.<\/p>\n\n \u201cInstead, we\u2019re working with our policymakers to champion production systems based on agroecology and Indigenous approaches that make us more climate resilient and strengthen pastoral communities and family farms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Teresa Anderson, Global Climate Justice Lead, ActionAid International said:<\/strong> \u201cCorporate-controlled industrial agriculture is the second largest cause of climate change, and the biggest driver of deforestation. But it\u2019s a myth that we need agrochemicals, factory farms and land grabs to feed the world. Agroecological farming methods work with nature instead of against it, cut emissions, and are more resilient to climate change impacts. Agroecology is just a climate no-brainer.<\/p>\n\n \u201cThe world\u2019s farmers need systematic planning, training and support to ensure that food systems are fit for purpose in an era of climate change. That\u2019s why growing demands for a ‘just transition’ are so relevant for agriculture. COP30 will be held in Bel\u00e9m, in the Amazon. With the world\u2019s largest ecosystem under threat from aggressive deforestation caused by industrial agriculture, a just transition in agriculture would be a powerful and fitting outcome from COP.\u201d<\/p>\n\n ENDS<\/p>\n\n Photos<\/strong> from the Greenpeace protest at the World Livestock Conference are available in the Greenpeace Media Library<\/a>. Videos<\/strong> are also available<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n [1] Full letter and signatory list<\/a>. Launched at the Global Conference on Sustainable Livestock at the Food and Agriculture Organization, the letter is signed by dozens of NGOs from around the world including Greenpeace International, ActionAid International, Oxfam International and the Africa Food Sovereignty Alliance. Scientists, farmers and citizens worldwide are invited to endorse the principles as a direct message to governments ahead of COP30 in Belem, Brasil. <\/p>\n\n [2] The livestock sector is the single biggest cause of methane emissions, a gas reportedly responsible for about one-third of observed global warming (IPCC<\/a>). The drastic reduction of the gas has been widely accepted by climate scientists as the single biggest way to slow down global warming and limit climate chaos within our lifetime (WMO<\/a>). Major livestock exporters like Aotearo\/New Zealand<\/a> and Ireland, have been heavily criticised by scientists for ignoring scientific evidence and violating the Paris Agreement and the climate treaty\u2019s equity principles that demand more ambitious action from rich nations. Hundreds of lobbyists for industrial farming attended the COP29 climate summit (Guardian<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA<\/a>) is a pan-African network uniting farmer organisations, NGOs, consumer movements, faith-based groups, and civil society bodies to promote agroecology and food sovereignty. <\/p>\n\n ActionAid International <\/a>is a global federation working in more than 40 countries to advance social justice, gender equality, and poverty eradication. <\/p>\n\n Contacts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Joe Evans, Agriculture Global Comms Lead at Greenpeace UK, +44 7890 595387 \/ joe.evans@greenpeace.org<\/a> <\/p>\n\n