As I write COP28 has recently taken place in Dubai.
There are key points that have made the headlines here in Canada. For example, the announcement by Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault that Canada will cut methane gases by 75 per cent by 2030, is much heralded and unprecedented.
There is also recognition at COP 28 of the need to support developing countries with a loss and damage fund, and there is apparently a commitment on the part of the richest countries to provide funding. But will the money materialize in enough quantity? We know that the poorest nations of the world have not contributed to climate change on nearly the same scale as the industrialized world, but the peoples of these nations are among the most affected. It is also very clear at this COP28 meeting (if it wasn’t before) that to keep climate change to 1.5 C, fossil fuels have to be phased out beginning now.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has often spoken clearly and frankly on the need for real action. His calls on those interests profiting from pollution, namely the fossil fuel industry and its entourage, are clear. There is a need for strong commitments and a clear timeline. This conversation with Guterres is worth listening to. During this interview Guterres also underscores the impact of war on climate change. War, he notes, further impoverishes communities and their ability to defend themselves against climate change, and adds to carbon emissions in the manufacturing, transporting, and deployment of military equipment and bombs.
Guterres posted these comments during the COP28: “As people & planet continue to suffer from devastating climate change impacts, our world cannot afford more delays, back tracking or greenwashing.”
We need to make a difference wherever we are, but the fossil fuel industry and those leaders who prefer to continue denying science, even as the forests burn in their provinces (are you listening AB Premier Danielle Smith)… or those, like Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who uses carbon tax initiatives to sow dissent about climate change among farmers, and in the process leaves behind a lot of false information with the general public.
Still, there are signs of hope everywhere with individuals and organizations pushing global leaders to curb carbon emissions, all the while demonstrating goodwill and solid analysis about climate change and its impact on humanity.
Several organizations, individuals, and elected officials have signed on to the fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty, which calls on countries to agree to “a concrete, binding plan to end the expansion of new coal, oil and gas projects and manage a global transition away from fossil fuels.”
The National Farmers Union (NFU) is among these organizations. Its recent three-day national convention, held in Ottawa, wrapped up just as COP28 meetings began in Dubai on November 30.
In a media release announcing the resolution which passed at its convention, the NFU noted:
“In support of the movement for an international Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, the NFU urges the Canadian government to use all diplomatic measures at COP28 and beyond to develop and execute a Non-Proliferation Treaty that will halt the expansion of fossil fuel production, end all fossil fuel subsidies (both international and domestic), and deliver a just transition for workers and families impacted by the necessary transition to clean energy.”
Few farm organizations that I know of take this much of an active role in explaining and analyzing both the impact and mitigation efforts related to agriculture and the family farm. Since 2003, the NFU has highlighted the impact of climate change and advocated measures to help reduce carbon emissions.
“Farmers know how to pull our weight,” says Glenn Wright, NFU member and former NFU Vice-President. “We work hard. We also know how to adapt to drought, floods, blizzards, plough winds, and whatever mother nature services up. We dig in and we persevere. But overloading the atmosphere with greenhouse gasses is taking us farmers away from ‘normal’. Our climate will continue to accelerate away from normal until we stabilize our emissions by addressing our addiction to fossil fuels. Farmers know how to decarbonize our food production, and NFU members are prepared to roll up our sleeves to do our part. For these reasons, the NFU has endorsed the call for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and is calling on Canada’s federal government to do the same.”
Details of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty can be found online, along with the countries, cities, organizations and parliamentarians that have endorsed the treaty. In Canada, the cities of Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, North Vancouver, Victoria, and Gatineau have endorsed the treaty, along with other cities from around the world. Several Canadian Members of Parliament and a few Senators have also signed on.
The NFU recently published the third edition of its report titled “Agriculture Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Canada: A Comprehensive Analysis (3rd Edition)”. That publication provides detailed analysis on the sources and amount of carbon emissions generated by our current model of agriculture. It is the type of data that is required to make fundamental change.
Canada and the oil industry have yet to do this same type of data mining to accurately measure and undertake our country’s commitment at COP28 to reduce methane gas emissions by 75 per cent by 2030.
They might heed the example provided by the progressive farmer members of the NFU, who have fully admitted the impact their work has on creating carbon emissions — and have tackled the issue head-on by sourcing, measuring, and recommending ways of making a difference.
The oil and gas industry needs to show the same leadership when it comes to accounting for more than 41 per cent of all methane emissions in Canada.
Meanwhile, on the closing days of COP28, the NFU noted its dismay that Sunday, December 10 was dedicated as a full day on “Food, Agriculture, and Water.” Why, you might wonder? Simply put, members of the NFU state in this release that there are too many diversionary tactics at this COP28 meeting, largely because of the throng of fossil-fuel lobbyists dedicated to disrupting any advances on the non-proliferation or curbing of fossil fuels. The focus of COP28, notes NFU member Ann Slater, should be on fossil fuel reduction since fossil fuels are the primary driver in climate change. There is no longer time for discussions on false solutions, such as biofuels, carbon offsets, emissions trading, or “tweaking business as usual approaches”etc.
Ann Slater, a former NFU Vice-President who farms near St. Marys, ON, states that “the NFU and allied farmer and peasant organizations around the world have developed and articulated the solutions we need. The problem is that UN COP talks, dominated by corporate interests and distracted by false solutions, function to further entrench the status quo. Instead, we need location-specific land management, multilateral knowledge sharing, strong communities, democratic controls, and awareness of and respect for planetary limits. We need systemic and society-wide change and solidarity among farmers, peasants, Indigenous peoples, workers, consumers, policymakers, and all food-system actors.”
There is an increasingly large movement actively promoting non-proliferation of fossil fuels — now if we can only get the Canadian government to sign on, with sincerity, to the Fossil Fuel Non-proliferation Treaty … and join the growing numbers actively seeding hope…
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