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United Kingdom (UK) non-profit Fairtrade Foundation has welcomed the country’s “ambitious” new climate goal revealed during COP29, but urges leaders to prioritise discussions on agroecology.
Leaders representing more than 200 countries have gathered in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 to 22 November to assess progress in dealing with climate change as part of the 29th United Nations Climate Change conference.
During a speech on 12 November, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he wanted to “restore [the UK’s] role as a climate leader on the world stage”. To achieve this, he revealed a new target to reduce the country’s emissions by 81 per cent by 2035 compared with 1990 levels – up from the previous interim target of 68 per cent.
Alexander Carnwath, Fairtrade Foundation’s Head of Public Affairs, has welcomed the announcement, but urges the UK Government to consider its role in and approach to global trade and the effect this may have on achieving climate justice for farmers and workers overseas.
“The Government’s development of a trade strategy is an ideal opportunity to ensure UK trade policies support producers in tackling climate change, adapting and building resilient futures,” he says.
Carnwath adds the ability of farmers and workers to achieve higher prices for their produce is both a key enabler and a precondition to ensuring effective climate action.
“It is important the UK Government listens to producers, and addresses the links between trade and climate justice, to ensure that global supply chains are resilient, environmentally sustainable, and fair,” he says.
The current global food system – dominated by industrial-scale production of commodities such as meat, sugar, soy, and palm oil – is a major driver of climate change. It accounts for up to approximately 30 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
An estimated 4 per cent of global climate finance is spent on food systems, while an estimated 0.3 per cent goes to smallholder food producers in developing countries. According to Fairtrade, this is problematic because these farmers produce more than one third of the world’s food and are key to climate adaptation.
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