Kindred spirits from a globalised world

Here's the latest news from Lasse Bruun in Copenhagen.

As the COP15 venue started closing its doors on Thursday to the thousands of NGOs eager to change the world, the parallel climate summit, Klimaforum, opened its doors even wider to embrace these many kindred spirits. This coincided with the day Compassion was hosting an event to present our new report, showcasing how we can humanely feed and fuel the world if global meat and dairy intake is decreased.

Having been promoted both at the COP15 and at Klimaforum, people flooded to the event to hear why humane farming, climate change and food security are inextricability linked. We showed our new film about meat consumption and climate change but the main part of the event was a long debate, enabling participants to raise their concerns about animal welfare and climate change and to reinforce the message that caring for animals and the environment are not
mutually exclusive – on the contrary, they are clearly bound together.

Klimaforum has been branded as the 'people's climate summit'. And it was refreshing to be presenting to people who are personally affected or touched by climate change who then could provide a real account of the state of the world. Maybe that was why Compassion's messages resonated so well with most of the attendees. Or was it because many of the people came from countries where meat consumption still is seen as a treat and not as an everyday commodity?

Having covered everything from land use rights, socio-cultural issues in Asia, the socio-economic implications of factory farming in Latin America and naturally farm animal welfare, the event came to a close in a spirit of consensus that left the COP15 negotiations much to envy. Compassion reached out to representatives of the people of the planet and it was gratifying to see that they were open to our suggestion to improve the status quo. Now we just need to hope the negotiating leaders to follow this example.

Lasse's interview on climate-change.tv is now available to view - see the following link to get a feel for the issues we've been talking about in Copenhagen: www.climate-change.tv/component/content/article/47-inside-climate-change-solutions-interviews/324-lasse-bruun-december-2009

Campaigners left out in the cold

Barbara provides the latest update.

In subzero weather that would provide arguments for the few remaining climate sceptics, we struggled to even get into the Bella Centre yesterday. It was not the snow drifts that stopped us, but the UN security guards who told me that "Access for NGOs (non-profit observer organisations like Compassion) has been closed because of the protests earlier in the day". Thousands of people had demonstrated outside the COP15 venue yesterday morning, resulting in clashes with the police. Even for those with accredited access, the numbers of NGOs allowed into the COP has been further cut back, which has led to anger among many groups. The news from inside is that the talks have reached a deadlock after negotiations had gone on into the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The main reason for the stall in negotiations is disagreement between rich and poor countries over emissions cuts and financing. With the talks delayed by approximately 18 hours and with disagreement on major points, the chances of sealing a global deal at this summit are fading. With the negotiators' inability to reach agreement on major issues of emissions targets, it is unlikely that sustainable and humane agriculture will be a part of any deal at this stage.

The good news is that, when we've been able to get into the COP, our lobbying has really hit home. After five hours of dogged queuing, Lasse did manage to get into the Bella Centre. We also have some good allies at the COP, so are not alone in our work for a humane and sustainable future. Earlier I talked to representatives of IFOAM (The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements) who are also attending the summit. They believe that the use of organic farming methods would do much to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Organic farming can help to store carbon in the soil and can also use less energy than conventional farming. Organic livestock farming also has the potential for the highest standards of animal welfare. We discussed our latest report "Eating the Planet" which shows that organic and humane farming has the potential to feed the world in 2050.

As the talks grind toward their end, Compassion's attendance at the COP has been an incredible opportunity to build contacts, get our message across and make plans for the future, even if sometimes it's felt like we have been working against all odds. While the talks are looking doubtful, the work we have done behind the scenes feels like just the start of a real opportunity to help build a humane and sustainable future.

What's the Climate at COP15?

Today's report comes from Barbara and Lesley.

The high level negotiations have started at the COP, where it's crunch time for countries to hammer out a climate deal. Inside the Bella Centre where the summit is taking place, there is a definite feel of tensions rising. Small scale demonstrations organised by groups within the building are taking place daily. News reporters and film crews are everywhere, and most media attention is focused on some of the big names attending the conference this week like Gordon, Arnie and Al Gore, who have come to give more weight to the talks, hopefully improving the prospects of a stronger deal.

On Tuesday morning, Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, attracted a huge crowd and was hailed as a climate hero for his work in reducing California's emissions and ensuring that 17% of the state's energy comes from renewable sources. He spoke of the positive work being done in the US such as the giant wind farm recently built in Texas - the largest one in the world - and of research being carried out into energy generation from green algae. He was upbeat and positive about the task ahead and somewhat inevitably ended his speech with the words "I'll be back." Aside from Arnie's words, we should remember that good work for farm animals and sustainable agriculture is happening in California too, especially with the vote for 'Proposition 2' at the last US election, which heralded a California-wide ban for some farm animal confinement systems such as battery hen cages.

It would be easy in the tense, high powered situation of the COP for farm animals and sustainable agriculture to be overlooked – but they were there right at the front of discussions. As high level talks began in the afternoon Prince Charles addressed diplomats and negotiators. A longtime supporter of Compassion's concerns about humane and sustainable farming, he warned the summit that the planet is in crisis and said "We appear intent upon consuming the planet... placing global food security at ever greater hazard". He added: "it must be genuinely sustainable agriculture that helps to empower local communities and small farmers". This is of course the subject of Compassion's two latest reports Eating the Planet and Beyond Factory Farming (PDF) which look at sustainable and humane farming solutions.

Prince Charles also spoke of the Rainforest Project which he set up to protect the world's forests, currently being cleared at an alarming rate. Forests are home to many of the world's species and also play a crucial role in regulating the climate by locking up carbon which would otherwise be in the atmosphere and regulating rainfall over much of the world. One of the main drivers behind deforestation is the intensive livestock industry which relies on large amounts of feed grain, grown on deforested land.

Outside the COP, even in the freezing cold, things are heating up. This morning thousands of people are expected to demonstrate outside the Bella Centre and there are rumours that the police may try to seal off the building for some hours, so simply accessing the talks is becoming more difficult. However Compassion will continue to try to be at the heart of things and tomorrow we'll give a key talk at the Klimaforum 'people's climate summit', to build grassroots support for our messages on humane and sustainable agriculture.

To be or not to be? That is the (climate change) question.

Joyce D'Silva provides the latest Copenhagen update.

In the evening following the Agriculture Day conference, Joyce and Lasse attended a business leaders meeting at Kronborg Castle in Elsinore (used by Shakespeare as the setting for "Hamlet").

Many of the companies represented belong to the UN Global Compact and declared their commitment to greening their businesses. Some of the figures mentioned which are needed to prevent runaway climate change were mind-blowing:

• Tracy Wolstencroft from Goldman Sachs said that we need $30 trillion to keep the global rise in temperature below 2^oC
• Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Norwegian PM and author of the famous Brundtland report, also spoke of the need for financial backing for any measures agreed at the Copenhagen conference
• Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, who gave Compassion's 2008 annual lecture, spoke of the expected huge water shortages resulting from climate change, which will make it hard for societies to function. He also highlighted the inefficiency of the shift to diets high in animal protein.

However, with huge investments in green technology, many of the business leaders at the conference were optimistic that the challenges of climate change could be met. Several are already working with environmental groups. With Compassion's investment in our Food Business initiative, we anticipate that many food businesses will be partnering with Compassion in the future to raise animal welfare standards and develop meat reduction strategies in order to achieve a humane and sustainable future for farming.

Former US President Bill Clinton sent a video message to the event in which he told us how vital it was that a firm climate change agreement is reached. He concluded "We can all do well by doing good."

Farming issues aired at Copenhagen

Joyce and Barbara provide the latest update from Copenhagen.

As we were boarding our plane for Copenhagen, we bumped into famous primatologist Jane Goodall DBE, who had given a moving keynote speech at our 2005 conference on animal sentience. Jane told us that her mission at the Climate Change conference was "to save the forests."

This is also an important issue for Compassion. Not only are forests home to billions of wild animals, but they are being cut down to supply the feed crops for intensively reared animals and for cattle ranching. Also on the plane was one of Compassion's Patrons, Sir Crispin Tickell, environmentalist and former UK Ambassador to the United Nations.

Our first day in Copenhagen was Agriculture and Rural Development Day. Over three hundred delegates including farmers, policymakers, scientists and campaign groups attended a conference to discuss the role of agriculture in climate change.

We actively participated by raising farm animal issues, talking to delegates and distributing our new reports which proved very popular. Our latest report "Eating the Planet" was met with particular interest as it shows how we can feed the world humanely and sustainably in 2050.

There are many reasons why agriculture needs to be on the Climate Change agenda. It is a major contributor to climate change, with livestock production alone accounting for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists agree that even if emissions were drastically cut now, a rise in temperature of 2oc is inevitable, potentially changing the amount of rainfall over much of the world. With 95% of small-scale African farmers relying on rainfall alone for irrigating their crops, it becomes clear why climate change and food security are inseparable issues.

The delegates rightly showed huge commitment to protecting these farmers' livelihoods, but we sometimes felt that the bigger picture had been forgotten. Although a few delegates raised the issue of over-consumption of meat and dairy and its implications for food security, the effects that intensification of livestock production would have on the welfare of farm animals was sadly missing in the discussions (except for when we raised it!).

It is clear that we have a huge task ahead to ensure that animal welfare is not sacrificed in future climate change policy decisions.

However, we were encouraged when Tom Vilsack, Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, spoke of the need to promote organic and local food production and healthier eating in the US, which has one of the highest levels of obesity in the world. It was good to hear him refer to some of Compassion's key food related issues!

Meanwhile, out on the streets of Copenhagen, tens of thousands of protesters marched to demand a strong climate change deal. Compassion believes that any deal agreed should include strategies for sustainable farming and meat reduction.