Climate policy | TableDebates

Climate policy

Red farmhouse in field. Credit Pixabay via Pexels.

Pounds in Pockets: Climate policies that cost cuts for households and farmers

This report by the WWF shows how cost-effective climate and nature policies can help tackle the cost-of-living crisis, saving households and farmers money while boosting the UK's energy and food security. The policies would quickly put pounds in people's pockets and stimulate the economy, all without requiring large public spending.

A photo of the Dubai Exhibition Centre lit up at night. Photo by Ruth Mattock.

COP28: Reflections on an expanding international event

The UN Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Climate Change (‘COP’) has been getting steadily bigger over its almost 30-year history. Does size matter in the climate agenda, and how does the format of the conference further, or limit, its goal of international cooperation? This article considers the impact of expansion, and what it means for food systems. Ruth attended COP28 as part of a role with another organisation, Sri Lanka-based think tank SLYCAN Trust. She also attended the 2022 COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh as an employee of the Scottish Government.

Will animal welfare be COP28's sacrificial lamb?

As many welcome the novel spotlight on food systems at COP28, the UN Climate Change Conference taking place in the United Arab Emirates this month, authors Cleo Verkuijl and Jeff Sebo call for a renewed focus on animal welfare and the ethical price being paid for a narrow and inattentive focus on emissions reduction. About the authors: Cleo Verkuijl is a scientist at the Stockholm Environment Institute US and a visiting research fellow at Harvard Law School’s Animal Law and Policy Programme. She has served as a coordinating lead author of three UN climate policy assessments. Jeff Sebo is Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, Affiliated Professor of Bioethics, Medical Ethics, Philosophy, and Law, Director of the Animal Studies M.A. Program, Director of the Mind, Ethics, and Policy Program, and Co-Director of the Wild Animal Welfare Program at New York University. His most recent book is Saving Animals, Saving Ourselves.

Aligning food systems with climate and biodiversity targets

Aligning food systems with climate and biodiversity targets

This report from UK-based think tank Chatham House assesses global policies on climate, biodiversity and food. It argues that current plans to protect the climate and nature up to 2030 are not ambitious enough, and that only a transformation of the global food system can meet goals on biodiversity and climate mitigation. It argues that immediate priority should be given to both reducing farm-level impacts of livestock rearing and reducing overall production of animal-sourced foods, thus freeing up land to restore nature and sequester carbon, particularly in higher income countries.

High Steaks: Reducing agricultural methane in the EU

High Steaks: Reducing agricultural methane in the EU

This policy briefing from the Changing Markets Foundation argues that it will be very difficult for the European Union to meet its 2030 methane reduction targets without bringing in extra measures in the meat and dairy industries. 36% of the EU’s methane reductions could come from the agricultural sector, it estimates.

Who is making food policy in Australia?

Who is making food policy in Australia?

This research brief from the Centre for Food Policy summarises which government departments in Australia are responsible for food policy. An infographic shows the role of each of 11 departments that have a connection to food.

The University of Manchester

The future of academic air travel after COVID-19

Researchers from the University of Manchester argue that the widespread switch to remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how academia can function in the future without flying, to reduce carbon emissions. They set out recommendations on how to retain low levels of aviation, including combining necessary trips, supporting cultural changes by improving virtual methods of working, and considering using carbon budgets for travel.

Putting climate on everyone’s table

Putting climate on everyone’s table: the IPCC on food and diet

In this policy brief, the Food Research Collaboration summarises points relevant to food and diet in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Working Group 3 report, published in April 2022. The summary notes that both individual and policy-level choices about food are highly relevant to climate change and could make significant contributions to climate mitigation; that action is required on both consumption and production; that demand-side interventions can have beneficial effects for health; that individual action alone is not sufficient; and that “choice architecture” can influence demand patterns.

Image: Ehrecke, Plough plow agriculture, Pixabay, Pixabay Licence

Journal articles

Rock weathering on cropland can sequester carbon

Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) on UK cropland, i.e. adding crushed rocks to soils (read more about the process here), could sequester 6–30 MtCO2 yr−1 by 2050, providing up to 45% of the atmospheric carbon removal necessary to reach national net zero goals. ERW can also reduce nitrous oxide emissions from soils, reduce soil acidification (through formation of carbonate) and reduce fertiliser requirements (by increasing supply of phosphorus and potassium). The paper questions the need for energy-intensive milling of rocks into fine particles, finding that particles on sites with high weathering potential are weathered rapidly regardless of size.