Cambridge Joins the Global Call for Climate Action by Signing The Glasgow Food and Climate Declaration
Last week Cambridge City Council added the city of Cambridge as a signatory to the Glasgow Food and Climate Declaration, committing to put food systems at the heart of our climate change response and calling for national action, joining subnational governments across the UK and beyond in tackling the climate emergency through food.
The Glasgow Food and Climate Declaration is a commitment by cities, regions and sub-national states to tackle climate change through integrated food policies and a collective call on national governments to act, ahead of the pivotal COP26 Climate Change Summit in autumn.
With the global food system accounting for a third of greenhouse gas emissions and contributing to world-wide environmental degradation, the climate and ecological crises and exacerbation of socio-economic and health inequalities, we must address the downfalls of our current unsustainable food system through an integrated and unified approach. It is essential that we put sustainable food and farming at the heart of the global response to the climate emergency if we are to meet the commitments in the Paris Agreement (limiting global warming to 1.5°C degrees above pre-industrial levels) and co-create a just food system, where everyone has access to healthy and affordable food.
The latest IPCC report is a stark reminder of the imperative to limit warming to 1.5°C degrees, stating that there is unequivocal proof that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, land and sea. The report reveals that climate change is currently impacting every inhabited region on Earth, with many of the changes already becoming irreversible, and that only rapid and drastic reductions in greenhouse gases in this decade can prevent climate breakdown. It is essential that our unified call for climate action is taken seriously by national governments ahead of COP26.
To see the wastefulness of our current food system, you have to look no further than your local supermarket. In her speech to Full Council proposing support of the Glasgow Declaration, Cllr Alex Collis, Executive Councillor for Open Spaces, Sustainable Food and Community Wellbeing, highlighted just how broken our food system is:
“I’ve been involved in the food waste movement for almost ten years now, and I have seen some absolutely horrendous examples of just how broken our food system is. Things that have to be seen to be believed. Like the supermarket storage room packed literally floor to ceiling with clementines one Christmas, fruit that wouldn’t even reach the shop floor. Like the bin bag full of Venezuelan blueberries that we rescued one Friday and, out of interest, decided to calculate the food miles they’d travelled. We soon stopped when we realised quite how far that was.”
Carrying on with the example of food waste she discusses how this is a problem that stretches across all stages of the food supply chain - from producers, processors, retailers and consumers. From the 2.3 million tonnes of fish that are discarded each year due to them not meeting retailers desired aesthetics, to the consumer where it is predicted that 6.7 million tonnes of food is wasted annually, costing on average £250 to £400 per household.
But why is this so bad? Along with costing us money it is also costing us the earth, as Alex emphasised in her speech:
“Food waste is a major contributor to climate change. We know from the recently published report of the UN Environment Food Waste Index that if food waste were a country, it would be the third biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions after the USA and China.”
Recently WWF released their research revealing that our system's waste is even worse than predicted, with 1 billion tonnes of additional food being wasted than was originally thought due to the amount lost before it even leaves the farm.
In a nutshell it’s not just one aspect of the current food system that has to change - we need an entire system rework, that addresses all aspects of the food chain from the individual level to local and national policy.
Why Local?
The declaration celebrates the power of local authorities in facilitating positive change, highlighting how the majority of sustainable food system innovation occurs at the local level:
“Cities, regions, and sub-national states are leading the way in pioneering integrated food policies and strategies to drive positive food system change at a local and regional level, where the majority of sustainable food system innovation is occurring.” The Glasgow Climate and Food Declaration.
In Cambridge we are committed to tackling our climate impact through food. There has been inspirational work across the community to implement local solutions to mend our broken food system. Cambridge is a proud holder of the Silver Sustainable Food Places status, recognising the city’s success and commitment towards positive food system change, involving numerous community organisations and businesses. The City Council plays a key role in promoting and developing a sustainable food culture in Cambridge, having adopted a Sustainable Food Policy, including food as a key objective in the new Climate Change Strategy and becoming the first council in the country to have an executive portfolio for sustainable food. Food waste is being tackled across the city through regular awareness raising campaigns and the nine community food hubs redistributing surplus food to those in need, amongst many other local initiatives.
Waste Less Save More Stall
Trumpington Food Hub
Cllr Alex Collis is involved in running one of the local community food hubs and has witnessed the call for positive change across all levels in the community:
“There is huge will – certainly at local level – to put in the effort needed to start repairing our broken food system. Right down to visitors to the food hubs, who regularly tell us that one of their main reasons for coming along each week is to be able to make those sustainable food choices that we should all be able to make, regardless of income. They want to fight food waste. They want to make things better.”
The Glasgow Food and Climate Declaration recognises that the most vulnerable in society are often disproportionately impacted by our current food system and that the Covid-19 crisis has exposed the fragility of these systems. Cambridge Sustainable Food is committed to addressing the root causes of food insecurity and moving towards a resilient food system where everyone can be actively involved and have access to healthy, sustainable and affordable food.
In her speech Alex emphasises the powerful role that food access can play in addressing inequalities as well as climate change:
“Food, and access to good food, is a gateway to so much more. It builds community. It can bring people together to tackle climate change. This is something they feel they can do. A way for them to make a difference in the face of those huge numbers.”
All community voices need to be included if we are to build a just and sustainable food system in Cambridge. National governments need to do the same. They need to recognise the voices and input of sub-national actors. They need to listen to the experiences and innovations of local communities and authorities. They need to hear the urgent unified call for action that we, Cambridge, are adding our voice to. They need to recognise that climate change is happening now and take crucial action to limit warming to 1.5°C degrees, before it’s too late. They need to have sustainable food and farming at the forefront of climate change action, driving positive change.
As Alex concluded:
“We have an opportunity, by adding our name to the call for action, to put pressure on those governments to act – and to act now, before it’s too late…. Let’s add our voices to the call for action. Let’s shout as loud as we can, so that the world leaders at COP-26 can’t ignore the issue any longer.”
Read The Glasgow Food and Climate Declaration here. Thank you to Cllr Alex Collis for her powerful speech that she presented to the City Council that we used in this blog.