'One minute to Midnight'

"It is one minute to midnight and we need to act now." That was the stark warning by the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson in his speech at the start of the COP26 climate conference. Leaders from more than 120 countries are in attendance at the conference in Glasgow, but some are conspicuous by their absence, including the heads of Russia, China and Brazil.

Prince Charles has also commented on the cost of ‘going green’ saying industry reform will cost ‘trillions not billions’ and that the global private sector needs to be ‘marshalled’ to foot the bill.

Agriculture well known to be a major issue in the fight against climate change, now many are looking towards technology innovation in the sector to help find viable solutions.

Agriculture is responsible for 25 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Innovation in agriculture can help offset the impact of food production and food systems on climate change. So called climate-smart agriculture practices, such as planting cover crops to reduce erosion is being championed at the COP26 climate conference.

More than half of methane and nitrous oxide emissions come from agriculture.

The world’s soils contains more carbon than the atmosphere, but when the soil is ploughed, it releases two hundred billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Methane’s global warming30 times higher than carbon dioxide’s over a century, and nitrous oxide’s warming potential is nearly 300 times higher. Reducing emissions from both, could make a huge difference in reaching climate goals.

The Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate) is being launched at COP26, it’s a joint initiative created by the United States of America and the United Arab Emirates.

It is the first global coalition on agriculture, currently supported by 32 Countries.

AIM for Climate is also supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. The idea is to increase investment in climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and food systems innovation over the next five years. Adapting agriculture practices to be more resilient to the impacts of climate change. Finding ways to meet increasing food demand and mitigating agriculture’s contribution to climate change.

Source: Stanford Woods Institute