City will continue to champion sustainable food as Green council leader pledges support for global declaration on food and climate change

Cllr Mac Cafferty joins city leaders from across the world signing Food and Climate Declaration ahead of major climate change summit COP26.

Green council leader Cllr Phélim Mac Cafferty joined city leaders from across the globe this week to sign the ‘Glasgow Food and Climate Declaration’, calling for local and national governments to put food at the  heart of the response to climate change.

The declaration identifies a range of commitments needed to address the impact of food on the environment and on public health, but also calls on national governments to recognise that local councils, organisations and communities are leading the way in taking action. Brighton & Hove became the first city in the UK to win a ‘Gold Sustainable Food Places’ award this year, in recognition of the achievements the city has made on a range of key food issues including tackling food poverty and supporting community food activism.

Vic Borrill, Director of the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership, commented on the signing of the Food and Climate Change Declaration:

“Thank you to Brighton & Hove City Council for signing this declaration, a clear commitment to put food at the heart of climate change plans.

“We look forward to working with the City Council to act on procurement,  land management and the prevention of food waste, the key levers to reducing the carbon impact of the food system.”

With a major summit of world leaders to discuss the climate emergency – known as ‘COP26’ – taking place in Glasgow next year, Brighton & Hove will now stand with cities, regions and towns around the world taking steps to ensure food is a key priority in climate change action.

Renewing calls for stronger action from national governments on climate change, Cllr Mac Cafferty said:

“It has been an enormous privilege to join with cities as far away as Madagascar and Indonesia to sign the Glasgow Food and Climate Change declaration. In partnership with leaders of local governments across the world, this declaration raises our voices for a shared commitment to tackle the climate emergency through  food. In a year when our relationship with food and hunger has been tested perhaps more than ever by the pandemic, its importance is clear.

“National governments have until 2030 to reach our climate targets and we need to see COP26 make some firm commitments for action. Only weeks ago Brighton and Hove became the only place in England to win a Gold Sustainable Food Places award, in recognition of the importance we place on food and what it means for our lives, our climate and our health. Our city will continue to play its part, reaching out to the world to champion the role of food work and how it relates to everything we do.

“Signing this declaration is yet another way we assert that food needs to stay at the heart of our response to climate change and inequality. Five years since the Paris Climate Change Agreement and ahead of next year’s key climate change summit in Glasgow, now is the time to renew our commitments and call on global leaders to take action.”

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