International

EU-Mercosur deal lets agribusiness off the hook and exacerbates climate crisis

In August, out-of-control fires in the Amazon brought home the connections between the destruction of the rain forest, factory farms producing meat for international markets and global warming. Media attention may have moved on to newer wi

Nature-based Solutions for Livestock

Three major scientific reports published in the past year—the IPCC Land Report, the IPBES Global Assessment and the IPCC 1.5°C Report—confirm what agriculture and food activists have been warning for years: our food system is broken and government action without further delay is necessary to prevent catastrophic climate change. The IPCC estimates that our current global food system emits b

New Zealand Zero Carbon Act targets big dairy farming

New Zealand's proposed Zero Carbon Act would be one of the first globally to set greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions targets for agriculture, including dairy production.

Agroecology: Key to agricultural resilience and ecosystem recovery

The IPCC gives us 12 years to limit global warming to 1.5˚C. The IPBES Global Assessment has revealed that nearly a million species are on the verge of disappearance at an unprecedented rate of extinction.

Climate change, CAFTA and forced migration

On the last day of April, 16-year-old Juan de León Gutiérrez died in U.S. government custody in Texas. It was just 10 days since he had crossed the border after migrating from his home in Guatemala.

When climate goals and trade rules collide

Countries are increasingly advancing proposals to address climate concerns within new and existing trade agreements. Most modern trade agreements, and governing bodies like the World Trade Organization, were negotiated with little or no acknowledgement of the climate crisis.

COP 24: Time to draw the line between agribusiness and agriculture

For an agriculture decision in 2020 to be meaningful, substantive and truly allow for agriculture to contribute to the 1.5°C pathway and become climate resilient, the UNFCCC, governments and IGOs must begin today to make a distinction between agribusiness and agriculture (including the food growers that represent 88 percent of global farmlands).

Different worlds at COP 24

IATP spent the past week at COP 24 in Katowice, Poland. We wanted to connect with civil society groups working on climate, agriculture and land use, particularly on securing land, human and food rights of communities around the world. We hoped to learn how governments plan on addressing agriculture in climate negotiations.

COP 24: Where are countries with dairy emissions?

In the last ten years, dairy emissions have risen by 18 percent, according to a new study about to be released by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s Climate and Environment Division.

A letter from COP 24

Sunday was the first day of the UN climate talks (COP 24) being held in the coal region of Poland. While the energy sector will get the headlines, many countries are grappling with how best to deal with climate impacts to agriculture, as agricultural emissions are nearly a third of all global emissions. IATP is in Katowice and will be following how parties deal with agriculture in this COP.