Here are the climate-related sections of speeches by MPs during the Commons debate COP30: Food System Transformation.
16:30 Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat)
That this House has considered COP30 and global food system transformation.
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16:32 Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat)
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.
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.
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.
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16:38 Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru)
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?
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16:39 Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat)
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.
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.
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16:42 Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat)
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.
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16:43 Toby Perkins (Labour)
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?
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Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat)
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.
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Toby Perkins (Labour)
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.
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Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat)
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.
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.
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Daniel Zeichner (Labour)
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.
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.
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Jim Shannon (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 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.
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Barry Gardiner (Labour)
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.
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Kerry McCarthy (Labour)
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.
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.
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17:00 Alex Sobel (Labour)
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.
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17:02 Jeevun Sandher (Labour)
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.
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.
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17:05 Olivia Blake (Labour)
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.
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Terry Jermy (Labour)
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.
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Monica Harding (Liberal Democrat)
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?
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17:14 Monica Harding (Liberal Democrat)
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?
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17:14 Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative)
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.
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17:17 Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative)
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.
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17:17 Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative)
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?
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Stephen Doughty (Labour)
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.
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17:24 Stephen Doughty (Labour)
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.”
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.
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.
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.
That this House has considered COP30 and global food system transformation.
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