COP26: put food on the stage
Slow Food Climate Action starts on June 26th with a 24h online conference
to tell the world that the food system must be at the centre of the debate
Register here https://slowfoodclimateaction.com/
Slow Food HQ – June 10th – The climate crisis is in the news. Its devastating effects are now regarded as an emergency to which responses can no longer be postponed. The world expects effective solutions from the next world climate conference COP26 in Glasgow, next November.
Food must take its place at the centre of the debate. To ensure this, Slow Food together with Slow Food in the UK are organising the Slow Food Climate Action on June 26th, a 24-hour online marathon, a mixture of film, panel discussions and debates, which will offer space to scientists, citizens, farmers, youth and consumers from every corner of the globe alongside voices from the global South, women and indigenous people from across the world whose voices are less heard. “With COP26 this November, we have perhaps the last chance to save the planet from going above 1.5C. This conference will highlight how food is the solution, and also draw attention to the voices less often heard and how the climate emergency is devastating communities across the globe”, says Executive Chairman of Slow Food in the UK, Shane Holland.
Energy, fossil fuels, transport and industry tend to dominate climate discussions and actions. However, the food system is a major driver of the climate crisis, changes in land use, depletion of freshwater resources, and pollution of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.[1]
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Climate Change and Territory recently attributed between 11 and 19 billion tonnes of emissions per year to the food system, from land-use change to agricultural production to packaging and waste management. This is equivalent to more than a third of total emissions.
That’s why a paradigm shift in tackling the climate crisis is urgently required. Improvements in farming practices, food production and supply, as well as changes in diet and consumption habits, are all issues that must be tackled at COP26, taking seriously the solutions that Slow Food, together with a big part of civil society and environment activists, have proposed and are implementing in projects around the world.
Slow Food Climate Action will be opened on June 26th at 11am (London time) by the Slow Food International President, Carlo Petrini, Slow Food Vice President, Edie Mukiibi, Executive Chairman of Slow Food in the UK, Shane Holland, with an opening message from the UK Government Cabinet COP26 office.
The event will include a number of diverse voices from Europe and from every continent of the world, including producers of coffee from the Galapagos islands, nomadic Sami reindeer herders from Northern Europe, indigenous youth activists from Brazil, French Michelin-three-starred committed chef Olivier Rollinger, olive oil producers from Jordan to Italy, environmental activists such as Indian Sunita Nairain and farmers from Cuba to Europe and the USA.
Notable speakers include Prof. Michael Lee, Vice Chancellor of Harper Adams University; Prof. Alana Mann, Sydney University; Patrick Holden, Director Sustainable Food Trust; Marianne Landzettle, journalist and author; Vickie Hurd, Head of Sustainable Farming, Sustain; and Peter Grieg of regenerative farm, Pipers Farm.
Visit slowfoodclimateaction.com for the full programme and to register for free to any of the events.
Shane Holland is available for comments and interview at [email protected]
Slow Food International Press Office
Paola Nano, Alessia Pautasso – [email protected] (+39 329 8321285), [email protected]
Slow Food is a worldwide network of local communities founded in 1989 in order to counteract the disappearance of local food traditions and the spread of fast food culture. Since then, Slow Food has grown to become a global movement that involves millions of people in more than 160 countries and works so that we can all have access to good, clean and fair food.
Slow Food in the UK is the umbrella body formed by Slow Food England, Slow Food Scotland, Slow Food Cymru and Slow Food Northern Ireland. There are local groups all around the UK.
[1] Springmann, M., Clark, M., Mason-D’Croz, D. et al. Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits. Nature 562, 519–525 (2018).