Day 11 of COP30: Agriculture, Taxation, and Climate Justice

Day 11 built on the discussions from Day 10. It began with talks addressing the unsustainability of our food systems and proposing initiatives such as taxing animal products and subsidising low-carbon products. Other themes have also included gender and racial equality and the need to include these in climate negotiations.

However, the day was abruptly cut short by a fire started in the pavilion in the Blue Zone.

Taxing Animal Products

The day started with True Animal Protein Price (TAPP) Coalition discussing why the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Bank, EAT and 28 nations urge the Global North to tax animal products.

The global north bears the responsibility of global warming not only because of its consumption of fossil fuels but also because of its overconsumption of meat. Therefore, both the phase out of fossil fuels and the overconsumption of high-emitting products must be managed. The majority of GHG emissions from animal agriculture comes from meat and dairy. However, unlike fossil fuels, animal products are projected to take up most of GHG emissions in the future because of the lack of ambition within national climate plans.

TAPP Coalition’s argument is: if you want to pollute with any kind of industry, you must pay and you must pay accordingly. Therefore, they propose that there should be a tax on the emissions associated with animal agriculture.

In the EU, 31% of the budget is used in agriculture, most of it for animal agriculture even though it accounts for only 1.2% of GDP. If meat and dairy consumption was to decrease, part of that budget could be reallocated to climate-aligned initiatives such as regenerative agriculture and the reforestation of land. Moreover, high-emitting animal product taxation would decrease GHG emissions and improve carbon sinks as land could be reforested. There are more environmental benefits associated with these schemes including public health, improved soil resilience, and increased biodiversity.

Therefore, this call-to-action does not call for more fund from nations, instead, it urges for the repurposing and reallocation of funds and subsidies to align them more closely to low-carbon diets and consequently, the Paris Agreement. States must encourage communities to prioritise locally grown and seasonal products through market signals.

Speakers further reinforced this message by describing the environmental and social cost that comes with buying meat or dairy products in the supermarket. This indirect cost will not be paid by the consumer, instead, it will be reflected by rising GHG emissions and worsening working conditions. Therefore, this cost must be reflected in the price of the product sold in the supermarket.

Denmark has acknowledged agriculture being a major source of emissions and has adopted a tax on agricultural emissions, coming into force from 2030 onwards. This policy will require farmers to pay 120 Danish krone (£14) per ton of emitted CO2e from 2030, and 300 krone (£35.50) from 2035. Farmers adopting climate-efficient practices will receive an economic advantage to promote a long-term focused industry. Denmark will also invest 43 billion Danish kroner (£4.8 billion) to reforest land previously used for farming. 

CAFA’s Remarks

This panel discussion raised some very important points on meat overconsumption, and the need for more plant-based diets, with attention given to regenerative agriculture for plant-based products. However, we found that discussions were perhaps a bit too black-and-white on animal products – not giving enough attention to the complementary need for regenerative and low-carbon farming practices for animal products. There is a clear issue around land use for animal agriculture that should be addressed and resolved if we want to align with the Paris Agreement. However, depending on context and location, there have been research showing that animal products can have significantly lower emissions if they have been farmed using climate-conscious, sustainable land management practices. Many brave farmers are dedicating immense effort to regenerative farming and sustainable land management, competing against cheap conventionally farmed meat – and their efforts should be rewarded.

Therefore, we would consider adding some nuance to this discussion:

• While there is an undeniable need for the reduction of meat consumption in the Global North, and therefore an increase for plant-based products and diets as well, applying blanket taxes on animal products seems like it would be detrimental.  There must a reallocation of funds and subsidies to support low-carbon products such as locally grown grain, pulses, vegetables and fruits but also animal products farmed with climate-friendly practices.

• We agree that there must be a tax on agricultural emissions, but we advocate for using a comprehensive, progressive financial incentive system where low-emission regenerative and conservation practices are subsidised, and from a certain threshold, products are taxed based on absolute emissions and on carbon intensity. And this should only follow a global carbon tax on fossil fuels – governments should first tax fossil fuels, the main contributor to global emissions.

• In summary, the cost of animal products in supermarkets must reflect their price on the environment and people. And as a beef cattle farmer once told us, consumers in the Global North need to eat less animal products, but better, sustainable ones.

Climate Justice

In the afternoon, the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) came together as a panel to discuss initiatives that can protect economies, strengthen resilience, and ensure the sustainable growth of Africa. It brought forward a list of issues around climate actions, local needs, and climate finance.

The key takeaway is that Africa’s special needs and circumstances need to be more widely considered in climate discussions. Africa enters every COP with structural inequalities – it has massive climate impacts but emitted very few emissions, it also has huge adaptation and energy access gaps, and so forth. This is why African representatives are urging for African special needs and circumstances to be carefully considered in all COP decisions and especially in finance matters. The simple recognition of those structural inequalities is a step toward climate justice.

Highlights of the day:

Besides focusing on securing food supplies and climate justice, a major focus on Day 11 was the role of women and girls in climate action and ethnic-racial equality. The following events have occurred throughout the day focusing on different aspects of equality:

• The United Nations Women launched the “Gender Equality and Climate Policy Scorecard” to ensure the integration of women in policy making.

• The event on “Recognising the Role of Women and Girls of African Descent” recognised the disproportionate impact that marginalised communities feel in the face of climate change while remaining key actors in climate action. The event aimed to foster solidarity among afrodescendant, indigenous, and women and girls as a way to progress climate justice.

• Another event on “Race-Sensitive Climate Solutions, Ethnic-Racial Equality, and their Intersectionalities” denounced the ongoing environmental racism and explored how climate solutions presented in the Solution Acceleration Plans (SAP) can align with initiatives led by racialised communities. The workshop discussed how the climate crisis is a human right crisis that disproportionally impacts racialised populations.

• In the afternoon, the event “Global Mutirão: A Lasting Legacy” brought together different social groups to discuss how community-based initiatives can regenerate ecosystems and strengthen climate adaptation.

• Lastly, the High-Level Ministerial event on “Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities: The Heart of Global Climate Action” was meant to be held in the afternoon, but was prevented by an unfortunate accident.

Fire Emergency at COP30

Day 11 of COP30 was cut short by a fire in the Blue Zone’s pavilions due to a suspected electrical problem. The blaze which started around 14:10 local time prompted the safe but urgent evacuation of thousands of attendees. Celso Sabino, Brazil’s Minister of Tourism, reported that firefighters arrived within minutes and quickly contained the situation. 19 people have been treated for smoke inhalation, with no other injuries reported. The Blue Zone has been assessed and deemed safe to resume activities with the burned down area inaccessible.

While many in the media are pointing out the irony in a fire breaking out at a climate summit, we’re concerned about this unfortunate disruption becoming a distraction to the final climate negotiations. Key discussions on the phase-out of fossil fuels, climate finance, and deforestation remain unresolved and they need to be at the centre of our attention.

If there is a lesson to be taken from this event, it should be a practical one: we must confront the climate crisis with the same urgency and collective effort shown by the firefighters, attendees, and COP staff in neutralising this threat.

We also want to urge everyone to not see this fire as a reflection of what COP30 has achieved. There have been critics over the safety of the infrastructure and the lack of coordinated safety measures put in place. Even though these are valid concerns and they must be addressed, we cannot let this unfortunate accident overshadow what this COP has accomplished so far and distract from what is yet to be done.

Concluding Remarks

With only one day remaining, we urge negotiators to find the time to reconvene and conclude discussions around how best to conduct the transition away – ideally the complete phase out – of fossil fuels. Without a clear roadmap to do so and stop deforestation, it will be virtually impossible to get to absolute zero emissions by 2040.

Countries must commit to:

• No new fossil fuel investments

• Removing all fossil fuels subsidies

• A global plan on how to phase in renewable and low-carbon energy sources in a just way

• And financial support from rich countries to developing countries.

  
  

It has been reinstated, time and time again, that no global effort will be sufficient without the complete phase out of fossil fuels.

Moreover, it is concerning that no consensus has been reached on the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD). The Fund, established at COP 27 and operationalised at COP 28, intends to deliver money to developing countries to address losses and damages caused by climate change. However, the Fund has been consistently underfunded which COP30 intended to tackle by pushing for more contributions. The latest report proposal, published in the early hours of the 21^st of November has yet to agree on the final amount of national pledges.

We also urge every individual and every organisation to play their part in this green transition by both creating the market demand and creating the market signals. There are over 8 billion of us, let’s not underestimate the power of individual action. For instance, from experience talking with farmers directly, many farmers who implement sustainable land management practices find it extremely challenging to keep their farm afloat because the consumer still prefers cheap products over sustainable ones. For change to happen, everyone needs to contribute to it.

To learn more about how your organisation can align with the Paris Agreement, join the Climate Action for Association’s Collective of Associations using this link.

Climate Action for Associations (CAFA) are attending COP30 as official NGO Observer. This year we are attending in a virtual capacity, providing our members with direct reporting from the heart of the negotiations. We are committed to delivering daily insights and a comprehensive end-of-COP report to ensure you stay fully informed on the outcomes that matter to membership organisations and their members.

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