The UK will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow between 1 and 12 November 2021. The COP26 summit will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Middlesbrough has become one of the first towns and cities in the world at the forefront of tackling the climate emergency through food. The town’s Mayor Andy Preston has signed the Glasgow Food and Climate Declaration which brings together an international coalition of organisations to speak with a united voice about their commitment to develop sustainable food policies.
In a study by Sustain – the alliance for better food and farming – of 92 local authority action plans on the issue, Middlesbrough was one of only 13 to hit the mark asked for by the declaration. Mr Preston said: “The environment is a really big issue for me. Can we do more? Absolutely, but we’ve already got loads of things happening already and big plans to come. We’ve been declared ahead of many other places which is a great start, but it is just the start and I’m absolutely determined to keep pushing the environmental agenda further forward.”
Middlesbrough and partners have been working extremely hard over the years on a number of significant initiatives that really demonstrate why the town is becoming a leader regarding food and environmental issues, including:
- The Middlesbrough Food Partnership is well on the way to developing a comprehensive healthy, sustainable and affordable food system and is recognised nationally in their achievements. Middlesbrough became the first place to progress from the Sustainable Food Places Bronze award to the highly prestigious Silver Award and is now bidding to become a Gold Award holder.
- Middlesbrough Council have developed ambitious Green Strategy settings out a 10-year vision to make the town more climate resilient.
- Middlesbrough is a One Planet Living Council who has declared a climate emergency and has a history of delivering a range of innovative projects to demonstrate our commitment.
- Recently, a partnership or organisations secured funding for Climate Action Middlesbrough, a new innovative programme of work that will create a community-led movement for positive change towards a sustainable environment.
The Sustain study showed that 300 councils in the UK have declared a climate and nature emergency; acknowledging an urgent crisis and committing to taking steps to address it. As part of the research all 92 publicly available action plans were analysed for how comprehensively they include plans to tackle food-related greenhouse gas emissions.
Of those analysed, only 13 – Middlesbrough being one – include significant actions across a breadth of issues to address food-related emissions, meaning that the vast majority of councils – even though most have declared a climate and nature emergency – are not tackling food in a way needed to achieve net zero, or indeed restore biodiversity, halt deforestation and prevent antimicrobial resistance.