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Date: 2024-09-18 Page is: DBtxt001.php txt00017359

US Agriculture
Wrong sort of subsidies

$1m a minute: the farming subsidies destroying the world - report ... ‘Perverse’ payments must be redirected to measures such as capturing carbon, report says

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess
$1m a minute: the farming subsidies destroying the world - report ... ‘Perverse’ payments must be redirected to measures such as capturing carbon, report says Coffee farm in Costa Rica The ‘remarkable’ return of forests in Costa Rica, the report says, followed the eliminating of cattle subsidies and payments for improving nature. Photograph: Joshua Trujillo/Starbucks The public is providing more than $1m per minute in global farm subsidies, much of which is driving the climate crisis and destruction of wildlife, according to a new report. Just 1% of the $700bn (£560bn) a year given to farmers is used to benefit the environment, the analysis found. Much of the total instead promotes high-emission cattle production, forest destruction and pollution from the overuse of fertiliser. The security of humanity is at risk without reform to these subsidies, a big reduction in meat eating in rich nations and other damaging uses of land, the report says. But redirecting the subsidies to storing carbon in soil, producing healthier food, cutting waste and growing trees is a huge opportunity, it says. The report rejects the idea that subsidies are needed to supply cheap food. It found that the cost of the damage currently caused by agriculture is greater than the value of the food produced. New assessments in the report found producing healthy, sustainable food would actually cut food prices, as the condition of the land improves. “There is incredibly small direct targeting of [subsidies at] positive environment outcomes, which is insane,” said Jeremy Oppenheim, principal at the Food and Land Use Coalition (Folu), the collaboration of food, farming and green research groups that produced the new report. “We have got to switch these subsidies into explicitly positive measures.” He said the true global total was likely to be $1tn a year, as some subsidies are difficult to quantify precisely: “That trillion dollars of public funding is available and is a massive, massive lever to incentivise the farming community across the world to act differently.” A series of major recent reports have concluded the world’s food system is broken. It is driving the planet towards climate catastrophe while leaving billions of people either underfed or overweight, 130 national academies of science and medicine concluded in November. Another report found that avoiding meat and dairy was the single biggest way to reduce your environmental impact on the planet, with livestock using 83% of farmland to produce just 18% of calories. The “planetary health diet” published by scientists in January requires an 80% cut in the red meat eaten by Europeans and North Americans. Adopting this diet in coming decades would mean 60% of today’s pasture could be used for wildlife or other purposes, an area similar to the size of Brazil. But Oppenheim said: “We couldn’t find any examples of governments using their fiscal instruments to directly support the expansion of supply of healthier and more nutritious food.” Overall, the Folu report said the damaging way the world currently produces food and uses land causes $12tn a year in hidden costs to the environment, human health and development. “Continuing on current trends means sleepwalking into a scenario wherein climate change increasingly threatens human life, biodiversity and natural resources are depleted, people increasingly suffer life-threatening, diet-induced diseases, food security would be compromised, and [poverty reduction] is seriously impaired,” it said. “Such a pathway would within a few decades threaten our collective security.” But it said transforming the food and land use systems in the next decade is a remarkable opportunity, which could reap a societal return more than 15 times the investment costs required, which are estimated at less than 0.5% of global GDP. Transforming food and land use would also make the food supply more secure, said Oppenheim: “Stick with the model we have got and you can be reasonably confident that in the next 20 years we are going to have a number of climate-related food price spikes, because we have a highly concentrated system, with a small number of [regions] that are absolutely critical to the supply of grains.” “We need a big system reset and I think it is the role of government is to lead on these issues,” said Caterina Ruggeri Laderchi, research director at Folu and formerly at the World Bank. “It is extremely important for the planet, but it can be good for business too.” The report says a shift to sustainable production of healthy food could unlock $4.5tn in new commercial opportunities each year by 2030. The subsidy analysis in the report was done by the International Food Policy Research Institute, using OECD data. It found three-quarters of the $700bn annual subsidy is paid directly to farmers and that 15% supports measures such as research on higher yielding crops and road building in rural areas. It analysed subsidies in 51 nations and includes most, but not all, of global subsidies. Benefits from reforming subsidies has been seen in some places. Farmers in the European Union have reduced greenhouse gas emissions from fertiliser by 17% while yields rose, and China is phasing out support for fertilisers. The “remarkable” return of forests in Costa Rica, the report says, followed the eliminating of cattle subsidies and payments for improving nature. “But there is a long way to go,” the report concludes. “Perverse subsidies need to be rapidly redirected or phased out.” EU ignoring climate crisis with livestock farm subsidies, campaigners warn Read more Huge reduction in meat-eating ‘essential’ to avoid climate breakdown Read more True cost of cheap food is health and climate crises, says commission Read more As the crisis escalates… … The Guardian is committed to keeping the story front and center daily, giving issues of environmental degradation, pollution and species extinction the prominence they deserve. We’re urging other media organizations to make the same commitment and help focus public attention on this global emergency. In the runup to a major UN climate summit on September 23rd, The Guardian is joining forces with more than 250 news organizations from around the world as part of Covering Climate Now. This is a groundbreaking initiative to increase nationwide media coverage of the climate emergency. We will be sharing a portion of our climate coverage with partners in the network, in the hope that news organizations without dedicated environment desks will have the opportunity to provide in-depth reporting on this issue. By increasing the reach of our climate coverage, our goal is to spark action from our leaders, inspire citizens, and point to systematic change. But we need your ongoing support to keep delivering quality journalism on the climate crisis – and the many other critical issues we cover, from widespread inequality to the influence of big tech on our lives. At a time when factual information is a necessity, we believe that each of us, around the world, deserves access to accurate reporting with integrity at its heart. Our editorial independence means we set our own agenda and voice our own opinions. Guardian journalism is free from commercial and political bias and not influenced by billionaire owners or shareholders. This means we can give a voice to those less heard, explore where others turn away, and rigorously challenge those in power. Every reader contribution, big or small, is so valuable. Support The Guardian from as little as $1 – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.
Damian Carrington Environment editor @dpcarrington
Mon 16 Sep 2019 00.00 EDTLast modified on Mon 16 Sep 2019 06.50 EDT
The text being discussed is available at
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/16/1m-a-minute-the-farming-subsidies-destroying-the-world
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