As our Social Impact Working Group has been revising that principle and formulating a Social Impact goal, this webinar provided a useful reminder of some of the issues involved, what due diligence looks like, and how legislation impacts supply chain readiness.
The webinar began with a summary of the work objectives of the Social Work Impact Working Group, and then we heard from Magdalena García Elorrio about the UN guiding principles on business and human rights and due diligence. We closed with the Professor in International and European Law , Nicolás Bueno, on European Union legislation covering supply chains selling to Europe.
In case you didn't manage to register or watch the live webinar, we have a recording available for members. The link is HERE and the password is grsbeef2023.
We are now in the final weeks of preparation for CoP28, and a number of events that are focusing on livestock, its role in the food system, and the part that the food system can play in mitigation and adaptation to climate change are planned.
Once again, it is time for us to take a two pronged approach to messaging on the relationship between livestock and climate change.
The first is that the beef industry is fully aware of the issue and is working on it around the world, both for mitigation, through reduction in emissions and increasing sequestration where possible, and through adaptation, which is essential for all forms of agriculture. We have to deliver that message while recognising that we have work to do to reduce negative impacts and we do have to be quite upfront about the challenges.
The issue of deforestation is a particular problem for beef as if we cannot halt deforestation by the beef industry, we will not be able to meet our climate commitments.
The second prong of our message is that livestock are fundamentally important to thriving food systems. The role that they play in converting inedible fodder into high quality nutritious food for people cannot be achieved in any other way, and the lands that produce the majority of that fodder cannot produce human edible crops.
Livestock are hugely important in the developing world for animal traction, both for ploughing as well as for transport, while crop by-products are transformed into human food and valuable organic matter and fertiliser to grow crops.
Throughout many regions, livestock are a tradeable asset and fulfil the functions of a moveable bank account, and through their mobility, represent a more resilient and mobile resource in marginal areas than crops. Livestock provide nutrients in bioavailable forms that are more difficult to get from crops, some of which are already widely deficient in diets (iron, zinc, vitamin B12), particularly amongst women and children.
We recognise absolutely the need to make livestock production as resilient and sustainable as it can be to ensure that livestock are part of a circular system. The way to do this is not to banish them, but to invest in better animal health, better genetics, better use of feed and water so that we are producing more with less. We know that this is possible – it has been achieved in some systems and improvements continue in large parts of the globe.
The lessons learned need to be transferred to the countries where the numbers are highest, the herds are growing fastest and the human population is increasing, stimulating the greatest increases in demand.
Above all, perhaps, the world must recognise that whatever is happening in agriculture, while important, will be of no consequence if we do not reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Fossil fuel consumption has increased every single year since the climate CoPs began 28 years ago. This trend must reverse since 91% of all anthropogenic emissions came from fossil fuels in 2022.
That includes fossil fuel use in every sector, and that is the figure that we need to bear in mind in all of our discussions. If that does not change, there is absolutely nothing that agriculture can do that will make a significant difference.
