Today is food day in Sharm el-Sheikh, the first day dedicated to agriculture and adaptation to a police officer – a concern given that a third of global greenhouse gas emissions come from industrial food systems and the devastating effects of climate change crisis agriculture and food security. Big agriculture and industrial agriculture are set to receive significant support from some governments in the main negotiating rooms, where they are expected to hear a lot about “climate-smart agriculture” and technological solutions that will largely disrupt current industrialized systems rather than push transformative change. One to watch is the session on the US-UAE initiative – the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate), which has already raised at least $8 billion in private sector support. Small-scale and indigenous sustainable farmers who produce 70% of the world’s food will not play a large role in the main negotiations, but outside the halls they will demand a fair share of subsidies and additional climate finance to build more diversified and resilient food systems that according to the IPCC they help remove temperature extremes and sequester carbon. Outside of the main proceedings, there are dozens of food-centric side events taking place, and the Guardian will try to bring you a taste of these throughout the day. Just as a quick reminder of why climate and food matter: 37 million people face hunger in the Horn of Africa after four consecutive droughts. in Pakistan unprecedented floods hit large rural areas of the country. and record temperatures across Europe led to drastic reductions in crop yields. Add to that Russia’s war in Ukraine that has caused global shortages and price spikes in wheat, oilseeds and fertilizers, highlighting the fragility of a fossil fuel-dependent food industry that has sacrificed diversity, sustainability and resilience for mass production and profits. Important events Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature Damian Carrington The proposed fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty raises its profile at Cop27, with US Senator Edward Markey becoming the first US politician to back the call. The UN police talks set many targets for reducing fossil fuel emissions, but none for reducing their supply. This is the gap the treaty aims to fill, tackling the root cause of the climate crisis. Without such a condition, Jeporah Berman, president of the initiative, told me, “it’s like trying to cut in half with scissors. The treaty idea was inspired by the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and began with discussions between Berman and Mark Campanale in 2016. The first article calling for the treaty was published in the Guardian in 2018, written by Andrew Simms and Peter Newell. The US is one of the world’s largest producers of fossil fuels, and Markey told Cop27 delegates: “The US cannot preach abstinence from a bar stool. We can’t tell other countries what to do if we don’t do it ourselves. That’s why today, I’m publicly supporting the call for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty.” There is far more coal, oil and natural gas in the stockpiles of companies and governments than can ever be burned if global warming is kept to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Markey, a longtime climate justice advocate, also told activist and author Bill McKibben that he plans to organize Democratic senators to demand the firing of World Bank President David Malpas. Malpas, a Trump appointee, has been mired in controversy over his commitment to climate action and is facing calls from many nations for major reform of the institution. Read more about the treaty and its growing support in this explainer: A report released early this morning by campaigners Reboot Food finds that enough protein to feed the world could be produced in an area smaller than London. The report suggests that if animal protein were grown through fermentation in tanks, instead of animals in fields or barns, it would be 40,900 times more efficient to use land. The technology to make this happen is still in its infancy, but rapid advances have been made in recent years. My colleague Helena Horton has the full story here: There is a heavy police presence in Sharm El Sheikh for a protest outside the convention center. At midday local time (10am GMT) we expect to see a march through the convention center itself, but it is unclear how heavily policed this will be. Police officers stand guard as the civil society group known as the Cop27 Coalition stages a march. Photo: Mohamed Abd El Ghany/ReutersActivists protest outside the Cop27 climate conference. Photo: Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images Nina Lachani Today is food day in Sharm el-Sheikh, the first day dedicated to agriculture and adaptation to a police officer – a concern given that a third of global greenhouse gas emissions come from industrial food systems and the devastating effects of climate change crisis agriculture and food security. Big agriculture and industrial agriculture are set to receive significant support from some governments in the main negotiating rooms, where they are expected to hear a lot about “climate-smart agriculture” and technological solutions that will largely disrupt current industrialized systems rather than push transformative change. One to watch is the session on the US-UAE initiative – the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate), which has already raised at least $8 billion in private sector support. Small-scale and indigenous sustainable farmers who produce 70% of the world’s food will not play a large role in the main negotiations, but outside the halls they will demand a fair share of subsidies and additional climate finance to build more diversified and resilient food systems that according to the IPCC they help remove temperature extremes and sequester carbon. Outside of the main proceedings, there are dozens of food-centric side events taking place, and the Guardian will try to bring you a taste of these throughout the day. Just as a quick reminder of why climate and food matter: 37 million people face hunger in the Horn of Africa after four consecutive droughts. in Pakistan unprecedented floods hit large rural areas of the country. and record temperatures across Europe led to drastic reductions in crop yields. Add to that Russia’s war in Ukraine that has caused global shortages and price spikes in wheat, oilseeds and fertilizers, highlighting the fragility of a fossil fuel-dependent food industry that has sacrificed diversity, sustainability and resilience for mass production and profits. Bill McGuire, author of the recent book Hothouse Earth, wrote for the Guardian this morning about his pessimism about the goal of keeping global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. In retrospect, it is clear that having a specific target, rather than fighting to stop every fraction of a degree of warming, was actually counterproductive. There’s a perennial problem with goals, and that’s that they’re always within reach – until they’re not. That way, they can be used to justify inaction until it’s too late. And that’s exactly how fossil fuel companies, world leaders and others have used 1.5C – as a get-out-of-jail-free card to justify inaction on emissions. Continuing to present this temperature limit as an achievable goal provides a fig leaf for routine tasks. Take it away, and this dangerous jigger-poker is exposed for all to see. You can read the entire piece here: Good morning and welcome to the Guardian’s coverage of day six of the Cop27 climate talks taking place in Sharm el-Sheikh. As we come to the end of week one, Saturday’s theme is Adaptation and Farming. It is also traditionally the day most focused on protest, although this will be limited this year due to the Egyptian government’s draconian crackdown on protests. However, there will be plenty of action around the world. On Friday US President Joe Biden made a flying visit to the conference, where he delivered a speech saying world leaders “can no longer plead ignorance” and that “the science is devastatingly clear – we must make progress by the end of this decade. ” My colleague Oliver Milman was there and you can read his report here: You can also find out about the rest of the day’s events here. I’m Alan Evans and you can send me story tips, comments, photos, questions or abuse to [email protected] or on Twitter at @itsalanevans.
