Factory farmed pigs

COP27 Failed to Address the Problem of Food Systems to Avert Climate Crisis

FOUR PAWS urges governments to prioritise food systems to meet global climate targets

21.11.2022

Sharm El Sheikh, 20 November 2022  – After two weeks of long negotiations the end of COP27 has delivered a landmark decision to set up a Loss and Damage fund which will provide financial assistance to the Global South who are disproportionately affected by climate disasters.

FOUR PAWS, the global animal welfare organisation, welcomed the final outcome, but stated that global governments at COP27 “have still not addressed the glaring problem” of the linkage between unsustainable food systems and the environment, which is at the heart of the climate emergency.

At COP27 FOUR PAWS hosted the first ever pavilion dedicated to food system, alongside 15 other partners from around the world.

Josef Pfabigan, FOUR PAWS CEO, said, “Without addressing food systems at the UN level, global climate targets such as those set out in the Paris Agreement, will not be met. We need instant and concrete mitigating changes which this and previous COPs have failed to do.

“We need a fundamental system change in our food production cycles. Only a global transition towards more plant-based protein sources can sustainably lower emissions long term without threatening food security. It is imperative we shift to more plant-based diets, as we simply cannot tackle the escalating rise we are seeing in temperatures across the world.”

Josef Pfabigan, FOUR PAWS CEO

Pfabigan added, “FOUR PAWS welcomes the historic agreement to set up a Loss and Damage fund, this will go a long way in readdressing the financial discrepancies faced in developing countries.

“FOUR PAWS is also delighted that the parties at the UN climate conference have recognised the need to transition to more sustainable consumption patterns. But once again member states have failed come together to put food systems, which account for one third of all greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, as the major priority to tackle the climate emergency.

“It is an important start, and we welcome that negotiations have also found agreement for the need for more climate action on agriculture and food security, but vitally more needs to come. The past eight years have been eight hottest on record, tinkering around the edges will not suffice.

“Humans represent 0.01% of all life on earth, yet our actions control the other 99.99% destiny and time and time again we have seen a lack of leadership and political will on the most important issue that we all face. Time is no longer on our side, and this is the one race none of us can afford to lose.”

Background

“The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly referred to as COP27, is the 27th United Nations Climate Change conference and was held from 6 November until 18 November 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.”

Food systems are responsible for up to one third of green-house-gas emissions, while animal agriculture represents between14.5%-16.5% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions globally.

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Learn more
Elise Burgess

Elise Burgess

Head of Communications

elise.burgess@four-paws.org

M: 0423 873 382

FOUR PAWS Australia
GPO Box 2845 
SYDNEY NSW 2001

Main Phone: 1800 454 228

FOUR PAWS is the global animal welfare organisation for animals under direct human influence, which reveals suffering, rescues animals in need and protects them.

Founded in 1988 in Vienna by Heli Dungler and friends, the organisation advocates for a world where humans treat animals with respect, empathy and understanding. The sustainable campaigns and projects of FOUR PAWS focus on companion animals including stray dogs and cats, animals in fashion, farm animals, and wild animals – such as bears, big cats, and orangutans – kept in inappropriate conditions as well as in disaster and conflict zones.

With offices in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Kosovo, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine, the UK, the USA, and Vietnam as well as sanctuaries for rescued animals in eleven countries, FOUR PAWS provides rapid help and long-term solutions. www.four-paws.org.au

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