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Pippa Heylings (South Cambridgeshire) (LD)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered COP30 and global food system transformation.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I appreciate the chance to have this debate, which is of critical importance, both globally and in our country, where the hottest summer since records began is pushing our farmers to the brink. The harvest of 2025 was the second worst harvest on record, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. That comes on the back of over £1 billion of lost income for our farmers, following the extremely wet winter last year. All of that threatens our food security and pushes up food prices.
Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)
I thank my hon. Friend for securing this really important debate. She is absolutely right that we must support our farmers on food security and farm sustainability, but poor returns are threatening their viability right now. The dairy industry has contracted by 6% in the past year, and prices have dropped significantly; it was announced that they would go down by almost 20% in November. Some farms are going to be closing their gates for the very last time. Does my hon. Friend agree that to secure a fair deal for our farmers, the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator and the Groceries Code Adjudicator must be combined and given real teeth to enforce properly?
Pippa Heylings
I thank my hon. Friend for that, and I applaud her constant advocacy in Parliament on behalf of farmers.
The second part of the debate is about the conference of the parties and how we can bring about legally binding obligations that translate into exactly the kind of measures my hon. Friend talked about. In just a few weeks, world leaders will come together at the global climate summit, COP30, which will be held in Belém, Brazil, in close proximity to the Amazon rainforest. It is being held there deliberately to symbolise the Amazon rainforest’s critical role in global climate stability.
In the lead-up to COP30, I hope this debate today will allow us to consider why this summit is expected to finally be billed as the nature, food and climate COP, putting food systems at the heart of the climate agenda for the first time, and rightly so, because the way we grow, produce and consume food is one of the biggest drivers of the climate and nature crises and one of the most powerful levers we have to solve them. At the same time, climate change is one of the most significant threats to our food production and national security.
Why does COP matter? We have come a long way since the Kyoto negotiations in 1997. That was the first time that countries around the world agreed global governance arrangements to address the shared challenge of global warming. At the time, we were hurtling towards a catastrophic 4°C or even 5°C world, so what a feat it was, unknown in any other sector or on any other issue, to create a framework agreement between 198 parties—197 countries or states and the European Union—to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that could help to prevent dangerous human-induced disruption of the climate system. Through dialogue, negotiation and finance, the COP process has brought about legally binding agreements—the Kyoto protocol and then the Paris agreement in 2015—where we all agreed that we have a common and interdependent future, and that we need to do everything possible to keep global warming below 1.5°C.
The Amazon rainforest has been called the lungs of the planet for its ability to capture and store carbon. Yet, right now, the rainforest is gasping for breath as we perilously approach the tipping point where the Brazilian rainforest switches from being a huge sponge, store and carbon sink to being a source of carbon emissions, due to massive deforestation and degradation through land use change. That is why, now more than ever, we need to ratchet up our collective ambition.
I know that rainforest well, and I know what it means to the many indigenous and local communities that depend on it, having worked professionally on climate and nature negotiations for more than a decade in South America, in the countries that share the Amazon: Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Brazil. I was part of the UK’s largest international climate policy programme in the region, and latterly I worked as the global team lead for the UK’s international £100 million climate and nature programme, the biodiverse landscapes fund. Since 2010, I have seen at first hand the internal workings, impacts, successes and failures of three relevant UN COP processes—the climate COP, the nature COP and the avoiding desertification COP—working alongside Governments and non-state actors such as businesses, scientists, local communities and local governments.
I know how long people have argued for food systems to be a central pillar of the climate framework. Our own independent Climate Change Committee, in its seventh carbon budget, highlighted the importance of agriculture and land use change in meeting our climate targets. I therefore want to make three points today. First, the transformation of food systems is essential for climate action, food security and nature restoration. Secondly, this transition must be just, supporting our farmers and animal welfare as we change how food is produced. Thirdly, the UK must show renewed leadership at COP30 by leading from the front, with the Prime Minister, and by committing to sign a new global declaration on food systems.
Why does food system transformation matter? The EAT-Lancet Commission announced that even if fossil fuels are phased out, the world will breach 1.5 °C because of emissions from food systems alone. Unsustainable food systems are driving deforestation, soil degradation, water pollution and marine biodiversity loss. Globally, agriculture and land use are responsible for almost 60% of biodiversity loss.
Exeter University research revealed this week that we have now reached the first catastrophic tipping point, with warm water coral reefs facing irreversible decline, threatening nature, food security and the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people—a moment many of us hoped we would not reach. Closer to home, the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit recently found that wheat lost to storms and drought over the past five years could have produced more than 4 billion loaves of bread—the equivalent of an entire year’s supply for the UK.
There has been a strong build-up to COP30 in Belém, which is expected to produce a declaration on food systems, building on discussions at the Bonn climate conference and the COP28 declaration on sustainable agriculture, resilient food systems and climate action, which the UK signed.
Ann Davies (Caerfyrddin) (PC)
COP30, as with past COPs, requires us to be more sustainable, and that includes food production, as the hon. Member said. In Caerfyrddin, we have a public farm producing vegetables for schools and residential homes, so public land is being used for public benefit. Why can all local authorities not follow suit, supported as we were by shared prosperity fund funding, and use public funds and public land for the public plate?
Carolyn Harris (in the Chair)
Order. I remind Members that interventions need to be short, not a speech.
Ann Davies
No, it is not a speech. Thank you, Mrs Harris; I appreciate your guidance. Does the hon. Member agree with that sustainable and seasonal way of reducing food miles by using public land?
Pippa Heylings
I will perhaps come back to that a little later, but I agree completely about the importance of the SPF, as well as the sustainable farming incentive. In my constituency of South Cambridgeshire, we have public land—council land—working on regenerative agriculture with farmers, to provide the food we need. We need the stability and certainty of the SFI for our farmers.
The priorities it is anticipated will be negotiated at COP30 include deforestation-free supply chains, nature-positive farming, support for family farms and sustainable fisheries. This transformation has to be just, and that is as important here at home as it is globally. Farmers have always been on the frontline of climate change, as stewards of our countryside and producers of our food, and because they are struggling with the unavoidable impacts we now face. They must be at the heart of our solution.
The Liberal Democrats have been clear that the transition to sustainable farming cannot be done to farmers; it must be done with them. However, progress has been slow, and the uncertainty surrounding the sustainable farming incentive risks undermining the confidence and stability that farmers need if they are to continue to invest in regenerative agriculture, local food networks and diversified protein crops, as proposed by the National Farmers Union. Improving soil health, supporting pollinators and keeping farm businesses viable makes business sense too. As Martin Lines—the chief executive of the Nature Friendly Farming Network, who farms in Cambridgeshire—says, nature-friendly farming plays a “vital role” in building resilience to weather extremes. He says:
“Practices like improving soil health, using cover crops, and integrating habitats into fields are helping farmers stay productive while cutting back on inputs.”
We also call for a just transition in food and farming, as does World Animal Protection. At home, we must match words with action. The Liberal Democrats would accelerate the delivery of the long-promised land use framework, aligning food, farming and biodiversity policy. We would protect and strengthen the sustainable farming incentive and deliver it now. We would support a just transition for farmers and animals, reduce food waste across the supply chain and champion local, sustainable food production to boost rural economies and resilience.
Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)
Those points are all very welcome. Does my hon. Friend accept that global food systems already produce more than enough food to feed the world, but the problem is distribution and fair trade? As my hon. Friend the Member for Glastonbury and Somerton (Sarah Dyke) said earlier, the Groceries Code Adjudicator needs to be beefed up. We need to make sure that the supermarkets and the large retailers do not bully our primary producers to such an extent that they are wasteful in trade systems.
Pippa Heylings
Absolutely, and that is where the just transition must come in. We must make sure that this works at home. In fact, when we look at the amount of food being produced, we need to talk about nutritional security rather than food security.
Finally, the UK must lead at COP30. Belém will be a turning point. Negotiations are already under way for a new COP declaration on food systems.
Mr Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)
I praise the hon. Lady for getting this really important debate going today. She is absolutely right, and I am confident that Britain will be among the most ambitious nations at COP30. However, will she, as I do, take a second to reflect on the fact that, thank God, we have a Government going there who believe in climate change and recognise that we need to get the rest of the world to be more ambitious, rather than a Conservative Government who would be going there to scrap the Climate Change Act 2008, or Reform turning up to say that climate change is entirely bogus?
Pippa Heylings
I could not agree more. I have worked internationally for 20 years, and I have seen that when Britain leads, other countries follow. Our Climate Change Act was the first in the world, and 60 countries immediately followed it. Other countries followed the independent Climate Change Committee. I have seen emerging economies work with their Governments, looking at how they do economic development and leapfrogging by learning from us. When Britain leads, others follow, and that is why I ask the Minister to make sure we confirm that the Prime Minister will be at COP30, to show that we continue to lead from the front.
I also ask the Minister to ensure that we sign up to the COP30 declaration on food systems and support all the work that has been done up until now to make sure that food systems are central to the climate change negotiations at Belém. I cannot emphasise more the impact, both here and across the world, of the U-turn—the turning of their back—of the Conservative Government, and Reform right now, on climate issues. I have worked alongside countries and communities ravaged by climate impacts that are waiting to see us take that leadership once again.
Several hon. Members rose—
Carolyn Harris (in the Chair)
Order. I remind hon. Members that this is an hour-long debate. The hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire has already been very generous in allowing interventions, which has limited the time that Back Benchers have left to speak. We will start the Front-Bench speeches at 5.08 pm, so Back-Bench speeches are now limited to two and a half minutes. The Opposition party Front Benchers will have five minutes each and the Minister will have 10 minutes. Anyone who takes interventions is likely to upset colleagues.
Mr Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)
It is great to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Harris. I am grateful to the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Pippa Heylings) for securing this debate and for her excellent speech, which calls on us to be ambitious at COP30 and to ensure that Britain reaffirms its commitment to leading multilateral climate processes. It is also a moment to renew domestic efforts to reduce carbon emissions and adapt to the changing climate. We know that the green transition will lower energy bills, as well as ensuring that our food processes are nature-based and take on board the challenges that the hon. Member set out. As has rightly been highlighted, more action is needed to ensure that food systems are fit for purpose in future, both globally and in the UK.
Agriculture is the second highest-emitting sector—the highest after energy. Intensive agriculture is also one of the leading drivers of biodiversity loss, alongside a warming climate. Pollution from agriculture impacts 40% of the UK’s inland water bodies. In Brazil, agriculture has driven large-scale and devastating deforestation of tropical rainforests, which are one of the biggest levers for mitigating climate change, so the hosting of COP30 in Belém could not be more important.
Food systems have vast potential to make a significant contribution to reducing carbon emissions, adapting our landscapes to a changing climate, providing healthy and nutritious food for people, restoring our natural environment and supporting thriving rural communities and economies. Here in the UK, we have a farming and food sector to be proud of. I absolutely echo the hon. Member’s call to do all we can to rebuild the relationship with the farming community. In its advice to the Government on the seventh carbon budget, the Climate Change Committee has identified some of the policies and measures needed to support the transition to sustainable agriculture and reduce land-based emissions by 64% by 2050. As we head towards this important conference, I join the hon. Member, as I know colleagues do across the House, in calling on the Government to be as ambitious as they possibly can and carry on in that leadership role.
Dr Roz Savage (South Cotswolds) (LD)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Pippa Heylings) for her excellent speech leading the debate.
When we talk about transforming global food systems, what we are really talking about is resilience: the resilience of people, of ecosystems and of economies. Right now, that resilience is dangerously thin. Our food systems are failing on every front. Globally, agriculture and land use drive 30% of emissions and 60% of biodiversity loss. Every 1°C of warming means 120 fewer calories per person per day. This is not abstract. It is hunger, instability and conflict.
The scientific consensus is clear: industrial farming is nearing its physical and environmental limits. Climate change, soil degradation and water scarcity threaten supply, while global demand for food is set to rise by up to 56% by 2050. Without urgent change, we risk cascading food shocks that will drive inflation and deepen inequality.
We know that degraded soil releases carbon, but healthy soil becomes an effective carbon sink. Farmers everywhere, including in my South Cotswolds constituency, want to be part of that change, but they need support and certainty. They need the Government to lead with them, not leave them guessing.
Resilience is about not just production, but education. Last night, I hosted a roundtable in Parliament that brought together campaign leaders, education experts, teachers and parliamentary champions to shape a future-facing curriculum to make sure that our young people are food and agriculture-literate. National action must also connect to global leadership. Later this week, the House will consider the global ocean treaty. Oceans are potentially great allies in the fight against climate change. If COP28 was the promise, COP30 must be the proof that the UK can move from words to integration, from fragmentation to resilience and from short-term fixes to long-term stewardship of the planet that feeds us all.
Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. Ahead of COP30, I want to make a brief contribution to the discussion, my first since leaving the Government.
In my 14 months as Minister for Food Security, I became increasingly convinced that transforming the food system is one of the biggest challenges, and indeed opportunities, that we face. I note that the third of the six thematic axes set out for COP30 by the Brazilian Government is transforming agriculture and food systems. I had the privilege of representing the UK at the G20, which was hosted by Brazil in Cuiabá just over a year ago. I was very impressed by the seriousness with which the Brazilian Government take the interaction between their food system and global environmental challenges, particularly their emphasis on land restoration, so I have no doubt that they will seek to make substantial progress at COP30. We should support them in that endeavour.
There is growing understanding that food system transformation is vital to tackling both climate and nature challenges, as we saw with initiatives at COP28 and COP29. What I noted at every international event I attended, and in key bilaterals, was the interest in what we are doing here in the UK.
In July, I set out the Government’s food strategy with the ambition to establish the good food cycle, including an annual assessment of our food security. It also builds on the substantial changes to agricultural support systems as we move from the old common agricultural policy-style payments to purchasing environmental benefits, providing a key income stream for farmers but also ensuring environmental and nature benefits. That has not been without controversy, of course; I noticed yet another poorly informed and inaccurate piece in The Sunday Times only this weekend. Sadly, Opposition Members voted against speeding up the process, although to be generous, perhaps they did not fully appreciate that they were voting against the very things that many of them claim to champion—not a unique occurrence in this place, sadly.
The wider world watches with interest the course that we have chosen, which was embarked upon by the previous Government, as I have always acknowledged, and was accelerated by this one. I urge the Minister and his colleagues at COP30 to speak proudly about what we are doing. We have a brilliant food system in this country, from farmers and fishers to the primary producers and through to manufacture and sale, but we need to make it work better for our health and our environment. It will be a key discussion at COP30. I wish the ministerial team well.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I thank and commend the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Pippa Heylings) for setting out the debate so very well. This year’s COP30 will highlight the role of sustainable food systems in addressing environmental prosperity and climate change. That is something to which each nation can contribute, especially within the United Kingdom, so it is very important that all our nations pave the way.
I understand the importance of this year’s conference of the parties being held in Brazil, but there is a role for us to play on our own farms and in the rural countryside that we represent. I will refer to family farms in Northern Ireland, because they are crucial to Northern Ireland’s agriculture sector, managing approximately all of our region’s land area. I am aware of the work of the farmers in my constituency, whose efforts are second to none. In Northern Ireland, we have the soil nutrient health scheme, a comprehensive soil-testing initiative launched by the Department of Agriculture with a £37 million investment. It aims to enhance the sustainability and efficiency of farming practices across Northern Ireland.
Food waste cannot be ignored. There is a role not just for farmers, but for every one of us. Some 9.5 million tonnes of food is wasted in the UK: on average, 50% is wasted in each household. Everyone here discards about 22% of their weekly food purchases. Food expiration dates and best-before dates have led to confusion around food; evidence suggests that applying labels consistently could reduce food waste. There are roles that we can play here to help those in Brazil and elsewhere across the world.
I look forward to hearing the outcomes of COP30. I hope that the Minister will come to the House to update us. Collectively, across the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, we can play an important role and be real role models to others, especially in our food production and our food security.
Barry Gardiner (Brent West) (Lab)
Systems rely on diversity. Imagine a piano with 88 keys all tuned to middle C: Mozart would not have got very far. Yet what is happening to our global food system is a destruction of the very diversity on which our survival depends. Since 1900, the world’s crops have lost 75% of their genetic diversity. Four companies—Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge and Louis Dreyfus—control 90% of the global grain trade. Just four plants—wheat, rice, maize and soy beans—account for almost 60% of the calories grown by farmers. Just three countries grow 86% of the world’s soy beans, which in turn supply three quarters of the world’s feed for farm animals. The convergence to a global standard diet, dependent on and controlled by a small number of companies and countries, threatens the resilience of the global food system and the food security of every nation.
COP30 is the COP at which the ratcheted-up nationally determined contributions must take account of every sector of the economy. Countries have been struggling to do so: by the fall of the third extended deadline last month, only 60 of the 190 countries had submitted their revised NDCs. It is vital that food systems be integrated into NDCs submitted to COP30, focusing on sustainable agricultural practices and climate-resilient farming. We need to support countries in prioritising food security, sustainable livelihoods and environmental resilience.
It is not just about the food we eat that comes from Brazil, or the Brazilian soy beans that UK imports. It is also about the financial flows facilitated through the City of London. HSBC has provided credit lines amounting to £1.9 billion to forest risk commodities such as JBS, the world’s largest meat company, which has a record of corruption and forest destruction in Brazil: JBS even admitted to paying Brazilian officials $180 million in bribes. That flies in the face of HSBC’s 2017 commitment not to provide services to customers either directly or indirectly involved in deforestation. That is why we need to implement schedule 17 to the Environment Act 2021, which still has not been implemented, in order to ensure that we are not financing deforestation.
Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)
That was a brilliant speech. It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mrs Harris.
I agree that the Prime Minister should go to COP. It was such an important moment last year in Baku when he announced an ambitious 81% NDC and demonstrated to the world that the UK was back in the business of global climate leadership. I know from the past year just how much that has resonated, not least with climate-vulnerable countries. That leadership is needed now more than ever.
It was 16 years ago that I secured a debate in this Chamber on the livestock industry and climate change, inspired by the seminal United Nations report “Livestock’s Long Shadow”. I spoke about the impact of intensive industrialised animal agriculture on our planet. It has to be said that what I said back then was treated with a degree of derision in some quarters, especially when I got on to the subject of what I will delicately refer to as emissions from cows. That argument, I believe, has now been won—I could cite many more expert reports on it if I held a similar debate now—but what remains to be seen is whether Governments have the political will to act.
I know that the Brazilians are keen to make super-pollutants, including methane, a major theme at COP. The UK is due to publish its own methane action plan by the end of this month, along with the carbon budget growth delivery plan. I hope that we put down a marker in it about what global leadership on methane looks like, especially on agriculture and food systems.
Food systems account for roughly 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions and drive about 90% of tropical deforestation. I was proud to co-chair the forest and climate leaders’ partnership with Guyana. I know that the former Foreign Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy), was passionate about this, not least because of his Guyanese heritage. I hope that the new Foreign Secretary will step into his shoes at COP with similar commitment and passion.
We cannot show global leadership on forests unless we lead by domestic example by stamping out deforestation in our supply chains. The EU is acting on forest risk commodities by focusing on sustainability; under the previous Government, the UK focused on legislation based on illegality. There are arguments for and against both approaches, but what it is not acceptable is not to act at all. I hope that by the time we get to Belém in the heart of the Amazon, the UK will have made its own intentions clear.
Alex Sobel (Leeds Central and Headingley) (Lab/Co-op)
With COP30 just one month away, the UK could consider utilising article 6 of the Paris agreement to support global food system transformation. Article 6 was agreed at COP29 last year, and now is an opportunity to move. Article 6 of the Paris agreement enables international co-operation to tackle climate change and to unlock financial support for at-risk countries. Article 6.2 enables host countries to sell units to a buyer country, in exchange for investments, support for capacity building and access to technologies not available through domestic resources. The buyer country purchases these units to address any gaps in meeting its own climate goals.
The UK needs to do more to support countries to establish domestic systems and address technical implementation issues. The UK is well placed to support countries to build infrastructure including carbon accounting, safeguarding and governance to implement article 6.2. No trades have yet occurred, but investment is there for countries that desperately need it. Such opportunities can be used to address many issues in countries on the frontline of the climate crisis, including soil degradation, deforestation, drought and ocean acidification. Addressing those issues is essential for retaining food systems and for the food system transition.
I wish to turn my attention to Ukraine, which is the breadbasket not only of Europe but of the world, with the richest soil on the planet. The UK should begin to consider an article 6.2 co-operation agreement with Ukraine. War has damaged its industrial systems. Keeping the lights on and costs down is a daily priority, not a distant goal. Every month without investment locks in higher costs and lost output. Through article 6 we have the opportunity to support not just Ukraine’s agricultural system, but its whole system. The pipeline is practical and measurable: solar and storage on rooftops and other sites, grid loss reduction, industrial efficiency, afforestation and methane cuts to support all the systems in Ukraine, not just the food system. Those actions would be verified simply, reported publicly and financed at scale. Ukraine is ready. Article 6.2 is an opportunity not only for the evolution of carbon markets, but for us to support countries in which the food system is failing and there are opportunities to re-nature and restore, utilising global finance.
Dr Jeevun Sandher (Loughborough) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. We live in a world where climate change is leading to rising prices and to more hunger. World food prices are up by 30%. The number of undernourished people is rising across the world. Here in the UK, food prices have increased by almost 40%, and one in eight people are skipping meals. That is because a warming planet is leading to drought and to failed harvests.
We can stop that by sorting out and investing in our global food system. That is about investing in sustainable agriculture, irrigation, digging wells, ecosystem management and stopping emissions so that we have a planet where all of us can cohere and work together. We must also ensure that there is emergency food and income support when our food systems fail and people go hungry, as is happening here and across the globe.
When I speak about hunger and drought, I do not speak merely about what I have read; I speak about things that I have seen and experienced. For two years, between 2016 and 2018, I worked in the Somaliland Ministry of Finance. I was, I think, the only economist there, and I did its budgets, its economic policy and its national development plan. I was there during Somaliland’s worst drought in living memory, and a widespread hunger that led to almost a famine. I can tell hon. Members across the Chamber that one does not forget what hunger looks like when it is etched into a child’s face. It was incredibly difficult. Climate change had led to droughts, which had led to failed harvests, to insufficient produce for herds and to dying animals. In the immediate moment, there was not a huge amount we could do, but we could sort out the budget system to enable us to invest in greater food production, wells and irrigation, with a bit of money left on the side to ensure emergency food and income support. I was pleased to see that those measures are still in place.
Unfortunately, as I speak here today, Somaliland is going through another drought and even more hunger, because of rising temperatures, a burning planet and failed harvests once again. It is for all of us in this place, and for nations across the globe, to stop emitting carbon so that every single person across our planet can afford to eat.
Olivia Blake (Sheffield Hallam) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Pippa Heylings) for securing this debate. I prepared a much longer speech, but I will keep it brief. We know the destabilising forces that scarcity of food can unleash, and what that can mean to communities around the globe, as we have just heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Loughborough (Dr Sandher).
We are living in the Anthropocene, which means that humans are the dominant force in shaping the Earth’s environment. That could make us all terrified, thinking that there is nothing we can do, but actually it tells the opposite story. It shows us that we can influence the environment, whether that is by signing up to the declaration on food systems at the next COP, or through the great work of local groups that improve access to waste food, such as Food Works Sheffield or Regather, which produces food locally in Sheffield. There are great examples of people taking control of sustainable food issues, and that should be celebrated in this place.
However, if we cannot get away from the elephant in the room—the fact that we do not do enough at COP, not just on food and sustainability, but around nature and climate change, and especially around oil, gas and coal—we are going to be in trouble. I make a heartfelt plea that the Government continue to stand firm with our manifesto commitments not to renew or grant any more licences. We must make it clear that no new oil and gas licences will take a single penny off bills or make us more energy secure; they will only accelerate the worsening climate crisis.
I therefore call on the Government to reject the Rosebank proposals, because we cannot have a planet, food or community without adequate resources in our communities for people to survive and thrive. We will see massive global upheaval if people cannot access their basic needs. Food is fundamental to that, which is why I have also supported colleagues’ calls for a right to food. That is something we should talk about globally, not just in the UK.
Terry Jermy (South West Norfolk) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. This is an important and timely debate, coming on the back of one of the worst harvests on record in this country. We must discuss how the Government prioritise the transformation of food systems in this country and globally, as well as how they seek to address climate change, enhance food security and protect and safeguard animal welfare. Animal welfare and the climate crisis are intertwined.
Food systems account for 33% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with animal agriculture contributing up to 20%. Each and every year, more than 83 billion animals are slaughtered for food across the world. The majority are kept in intensive farming conditions that confine them to overcrowded spaces. Not only does industrial animal agriculture drive greenhouse gas emissions through the use of fossil fuels, but the growth of crops to feed industrially farmed animals drives widespread disruption of forests, grasslands and other wild animal habitats.
We have a proud farming heritage in my South West Norfolk constituency, and it is important that we recognise in this debate the need for a just transition for farmers. In my experience, farmers are often the best conservationists. They have a deep connection to the land they farm, and they care greatly for their animals. We must do more to support such farmers, with a greater focus on fairness and rewarding those who play by the rules, upholding high environmental and animal welfare standards.
The inhumane treatment of animals is playing roulette with public health. Only this year, the first ever globally agreed World Health Organisation-led pandemic treaty was signed by the UK alongside the other 193 member states. The treaty recognised that people’s health is interconnected with animal health and the environment. Fundamentally, protecting animal welfare must be a core part of our food system and our transformation, alongside reducing emissions and restoring ecosystems.
Monica Harding (Esher and Walton) (LD)
It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Pippa Heylings) for bringing this critical debate to the House. Next month, the eyes of the world will turn to the Amazon and Brazil for the COP30 climate conference. The choices made there will define the world that our children and grandchildren inhabit. That is why it is imperative that the conference delivers real, sustainable progress.
Achieving that, however, requires much more ambition from the UK. It requires proper climate financing, a faster roll-out of clean energy and greater leadership on the world stage. So I ask the Minister: will the Prime Minister attend COP in Brazil? Just a few years ago, the Prime Minister rightly accused his predecessor, the right hon. Member for Richmond and Northallerton (Rishi Sunak), of a failure of leadership for not attending the COP summit—so will the Prime Minister attend?
As Liberal Democrats, we have long championed international climate diplomacy. We have championed the Paris agreement, a landmark and historic agreement that remains the central framework for global climate co-operation. It is deeply disappointing that the United States is once again withdrawing from it under President Trump, joining the likes of Iran, Libya and Yemen. Climate change is not some distant, far-off risk. We already feel its effects here, with the hottest summer and the second-worst harvest on record, higher food prices, soaring insurance premiums and increasing water bills.
The effects are being acutely felt throughout the world. Zero hunger is the second of the sustainable development goals—the world’s blueprint for a better world. However, the SDGs have been casualties of the Trump Administration. According to the latest UN development reports, we are nowhere near that target. Over the last five years, climate change has contributed to driving 150 million more people into malnutrition, a reminder that this crisis strikes hardest at the world’s poorest. That is why the Liberal Democrats would champion reform of the international finance system, easing the debt burden and unlocking green investment in low-income countries. We would back the UN loss and damage fund to ensure a just transition for those who are suffering the consequences of a crisis they did not cause.
Climate change is not just an environmental challenge; it is a threat multiplier, fuelling displacement, conflict, hunger and disease from the Sahel to the Pacific. As an example, following the 2022 floods in Pakistan, the country’s malaria burden quadrupled. This Government have cut international development spending to 0.3% of GNI, the lowest level this century. But they have none the less claimed that international climate finance will remain a priority. Can the Minister confirm not only that the target of spending £11.6 billion on international climate finance between 2021 and 2025 will be met, but that the Government will make a bold new commitment to lead on climate finance and use development finance institutions to accelerate decarbonisation in low-income countries?
Barry Gardiner
The hon. Lady will recollect that, of that £11.6 billion, £3 billion was ringfenced for conservation. Does she agree that it is important that we do not lose that element of ICF?
Monica Harding
The hon. Member is absolutely right, and I ask the Minister to guarantee that that is ringfenced. What we do in Britain sends signals to the world about whether we are serious or simply posturing. Renewables are the greatest economic growth opportunity of our time, bringing jobs, investment and lower bills to the nation. However, in a crass, short-sighted attempt to imitate President Trump, the Conservatives and Reform have turned against renewables. Their attacks on green energy will scare off investors, destroy jobs and relegate Britain to the sidelines of the industries that will define our future. Both parties have abandoned our net zero target, a reckless move that will shatter our credibility on the world stage.
The Liberal Democrats believe that there is no trade-off between climate sustainability and food security. They can both be achieved if the right framework is put in place. The UK food security report warns that climate change, water insecurity and nature loss threaten global food supplies. Liberal Democrats would champion investment in sustainable agriculture, helping farmers in low-income countries build resilience to droughts, floods and changing weather. We would work through international institutions to build a fair and resilient global food system.
As my hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire laid out, will the Minister commit to signing the COP30 declaration on food systems, when it comes, and to adopting the priorities of deforestation-free supply chains, nature-positive farming and support for family farms?
Sir Alec Shelbrooke (Wetherby and Easingwold) (Con)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Harris. I congratulate the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Pippa Heylings) on securing this important debate.
For any of us with a farming constituency, there is no doubt what a difficult year this has been. Drought has led to lower yields, especially in arable farming—I have a mix of arable and animal farming in my constituency. When we talk about lower yields, we are not just talking about grain or the size of potatoes; we are talking about things like straw. The stalks have been much shorter this year, which will have a knock-on effect. And that is on the back of a very wet year last year, which created its own problems. There is no doubt that the farming industry is under enormous pressure. Sustainable farming is an important process that has been supported by many Governments across many countries in many different ways.
I will discuss climate change and what we need to do on renewables, but we must also recognise that, although there are appropriate places to put solar farms, it is not appropriate to put them on good-quality farming land. I am constantly fighting solar farms on farming land in the Vale of York in my constituency that is very productive but is now being sold off for solar farms. There has to be a balance between what we are trying to achieve in moving to renewable energy and what we have to achieve in sustainable farming.
The Liberal Democrats are quick to attack the Conservatives, but I remind them that it was Nick Clegg who stood at the Dispatch Box and cancelled a nuclear power station project, saying: “I am not willing to spend money on things that will not happen until 2022.”
Sir Alec Shelbrooke
I think the hon. Lady might be rather upset if—[Interruption.]
Carolyn Harris (in the Chair)
Order. Would you not speak from a sedentary position? I call the shadow Minister.
Sir Alec Shelbrooke
Thank you, Mrs Harris. It is interesting that the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Pippa Heylings) mentions the leader of her party, who was of course an Energy Minister at that time, but the process took place under the party’s then leader.
Saying that net zero is hard to achieve is very different from saying that we are chucking out all ideas about climate change. It is a false target, but it needs to be worked towards. I participated in every aspect of the Energy Bill, so I am not just saying all this off the back of my hand. One thing I mentioned throughout that process is that it is important to take people with us, because this has to be a joint effort if we are to achieve the objectives that we want to achieve.
Sir Alec Shelbrooke
I will not give way, because time is very limited.
I remind the Chamber that we removed coal from electricity generation; we increased renewables to 47.3% of energy production; we secured £300 billion of investment in energy projects since 2010; we oversaw the world’s first, second, third, fourth and fifth largest offshore wind farms; and we increased the number of energy-efficient properties by 133%. I am not embarrassed about standing on that record, and nor should I be.
The hon. Member for Leeds Central and Headingley (Alex Sobel) sensibly talked about the effect that the war in Ukraine has had. Indeed, it has had a huge knock-on effect, including on the supply of fertilisers we need, which has caused inflationary pressures. Ukraine is also one of the breadbaskets of Europe—indeed, one of the breadbaskets of the world—with some of the highest-quality agricultural land in the world, as the hon. Gentleman said. We must therefore recognise that the war in Ukraine is having a devastating effect.
In the time I have left, I will ask the Minister a few questions. First, the Deputy Prime Minister made no reference to food systems or food security when he was at the UN Security Council on 29 September, so can the Minister confirm whether the Government have a specific agenda on this point at COP30? If so, are we partnering with other countries in that endeavour?
Returning to the situation in Ukraine, has the Minister raised concerns with Brazil, the host of COP30, about the fact that it is still buying significant quantities of Russian oil? Has the UK officially asked Brazil to wean itself off Russian oil? Has it offered alternative solutions? If not, will he do so ahead of COP30? Finally, Brazil is purchasing millions of tonnes of fertilisers from Russia. Will the Minister equally be raising those points?
The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Stephen Doughty)
It is a pleasure to have you in the Chair today, Mrs Harris. I thank the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Pippa Heylings) for her work on climate and food systems, not just in this place but throughout her career, and I acknowledge her huge experience of these issues.
In response to the shadow Minister, the right hon. Member for Wetherby and Easingwold (Sir Alec Shelbrooke), this is absolutely a priority for the Government at COP30, and more broadly, because how we grow, trade and consume food will shape whether the future is secure, sustainable and fair for farmers, communities and the planet.
When I speak of farmers and communities, I am speaking of farmers and communities here in the UK and abroad. We are engaged in a global endeavour. In my past career in the international development and humanitarian sector, I saw the impact of climate change and food insecurity on communities. I remember being in Malawi during the middle of a very serious food crisis and period of insecurity, where I saw the steps farmers were taking to make agriculture more resilient and the devastating impacts on people there.
In recent weeks I have met some of our leading climate scientists who are about to travel down to Antarctica with the royal research ship Sir David Attenborough. They will look at the sustainability of fishing and marine resources in the Southern ocean and the changing impacts of climate change in that part of the world, and the impact that has on global supply chains and weather patterns.
I again thank the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire for her contribution, and I agree with much of what she had to say. She spoke on two issues about which I am passionate. I have met young people in our overseas territories—part of our British family—who talked about the bleaching of corals.
The hon. Lady also mentioned wheat, and through our investment, alongside others, in the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, climate-resilient wheat varieties can now be found on about 50% of global wheat-growing areas, particularly in developing countries, and the work we have been doing on this over a number of years has been crucial.
My hon. Friend the Member for Chesterfield (Mr Perkins), who is Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, made some very important points. I know how passionate he is about these issues. I agree wholeheartedly with him about the extraordinary retrograde position that the Conservative party has taken in recent weeks. It is shocking. I do not even want to get into Reform.
Stephen Doughty
I will respond to some points, but I will take interventions if we have time.
The position that the shadow Minister set out would lead not only to economic disaster but to a complete betrayal of future generations. I will not even get on to Reform, which shares similarly outdated and unrealistic views. I note that one other party is absent that people would expect to be here, which is somewhat surprising.
Our investment in renewable energy, sustainable farming and global sustainability is generating jobs. It is generating opportunities for people in this country, but it is also addressing a global concern. That is why the former Prime Minister, Baroness May, was absolutely right to describe the Conservative position as a “catastrophic mistake.”
I agree with what the hon. Member for South Cotswolds (Dr Savage) said about the importance of resilience and the role of our oceans, and it is why we are investing in the blue belt programme and other global schemes. I also pay tribute to the work of my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (Daniel Zeichner) on these issues over many years. I welcome that his experience and passion will not be missing from these debates in future.
The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) always makes important points, particularly about the importance of Northern Ireland agriculture and farming. It was a delight to enjoy produce from Northern Ireland at the Hillsborough summit on the western Balkans last week. He made important points about food waste.
My hon. Friend the Member for Brent West (Barry Gardiner), who always speaks passionately on these issues, rightly spoke about diversity and its importance to our global ecosystems. I also thank and pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol East (Kerry McCarthy) for her work over many years. It is a pleasure to work with her as a Minister and in many other capacities. She made incredibly powerful points.
My hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central and Headingley (Alex Sobel) is also a long-term campaigner and advocate on these issues. I am glad that he raised Ukraine, and I thank him for his work engaging across all these issues as our trade envoy. I had not been aware that my hon. Friend the Member for Loughborough (Dr Sandher) had worked in Somaliland, where I have also previously engaged with communities that have experienced food insecurity and drought. That has been a particular challenge across the whole horn of Africa, and my hon. Friend made some very important points.
My hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Hallam (Olivia Blake), who is also a passionate advocate on these issues, rightly asked about the Government’s commitments on the wider agenda. I have given her our assurance that it will be a crucial part of our agenda for what we will set out at COP.
My hon. Friend the Member for South West Norfolk (Terry Jermy) spoke about food systems and their impact on global emissions, and he is absolutely right. Food systems already drive one third of global emissions and they will become the biggest source by 2050. I totally agree with his view that farmers as the crucial custodians not only of sustainability but of animal welfare, which is a crucial issue.
The Liberal Democrat spokesperson, the hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Monica Harding), asked about attendance at COP. I will not get ahead of announcements about ministerial travel or otherwise, but I can confirm that His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales will be attending, as will my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. I am sure we will announce other ministerial attendance in due course.
The hon. Lady asked about finance, and obviously we are committed to delivering on our pledge of £11.6 billion of international climate finance by the end of 2025-26. We are already looking at the results of what that investment has done so far. Since 2011, an estimated 137 million people have been better supported to adapt, and an estimated 145 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced or avoided.
The hon. Lady asked about private finance, which is also a crucial part of this picture, and we are working through a range of mechanisms as part of our modernised approach to development. For example, I point to British International Investment, which had a $652 million food and agriculture portfolio in 2022. It supports sustainable and other forms of agriculture, which obviously contribute to growth, development and opportunities in those sectors. I also point to the work we are doing through the FASA fund in financing agricultural small and medium-sized enterprises in Africa.
A number of specific points were made about the sustainable farming incentive, the Groceries Code Adjudicator and animal welfare. If Members do not mind, I will come back to those in due course, but I want to cover a few key points in the limited time remaining.
It is absolutely clear that, by 2050, the world will need 50% more food, but land and natural resources are already under strain, and agriculture that produces food is already one of the sectors most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. When that is coupled with nature loss, conflict and global instability, the impacts on production are pushing up prices and exposing weak spots in our supply chains that affect people here in Britain and our partners. The pressure always falls the hardest on vulnerable people, whether in our own constituencies or in places ranging from the Sahel to the horn of Africa and Afghanistan. Of course, our own food security relies on resilient supply chains and stable global markets.
Food must be part of the solution. We need to produce it more sustainably—on less land, with less deforestation, less waste, fewer emissions and less pollution. Sustainable systems can, of course, improve nutrition, strengthen food security, support livelihoods, restore ecosystems and build resilience. I mentioned our partnership with the CGIAR. We also work with the Gates Foundation, the World Bank and the UK-Brazil-Africa research partnership, which scales solutions. We are committed to science-led transformation in our role as a trusted partner. Whether it is our work with the World Bank to support Indonesia and the Philippines to reform inefficient and harmful fertiliser subsidies, or our work on livestock vaccines for foot and mouth in east Africa and on climate-resilient seeds, our work and investment is having tangible results. For example, we are working on drought-resistant maize through our CGIAR funding, and I have already mentioned our work on wheat.
We need to do more in this area. Our research shows that food systems receive just 7% of total climate finance, and less than 1% of that reaches smallholder farmers. We need to do much more on that, and it will be a crucial part of the COP30 agenda we will be advancing.
We welcome the work that Brazil has already been doing as host, including its resilient agriculture investment for net zero land degradation initiative and its efforts to draw attention to climate, hunger and poverty, and the links between them. We have shown leadership in past conferences by supporting landmark declarations such as the Emirates declaration and the Glasgow leaders’ declaration.
I do not want to get ahead of the conversations we will have at COP30, but I hope I have demonstrated our absolute commitment in this area, which is of course reflected in what we are doing here at home. We are backing British farming with more than £2.7 billion a year for sustainable agriculture and nature recovery; and through our environmental land management schemes, we are rewarding farmers for environmental benefits, improving productivity and maintaining food production.
We are committed to clear action at COP. This Government are committed to showing leadership, and we are conscious that we face this challenge both here at home and abroad. I thank all Members for their comments. The prize is clear: a future in which food systems are resilient, fair and sustainable, in which farmers are supported, in which ecosystems are protected and in which everyone has access to healthy and affordable food.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That this House has considered COP30 and global food system transformation.