COP26
The UK hosted the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow from in 2021. The climate talks brought together heads of state, climate experts and campaigners to agree coordinated action to tackle climate change. Among those leading voices was our president Minette Batters who represented British farmers as well as those across the globe as part of the World Farmers’ Organisation.
The NFU has represented British farmers and the wider farmers’ constituency at every COP since 2015. We were there when the Paris Accord was agreed. The terms ‘food security’ and ‘food production’ both made it into the final agreement, much to the satisfaction of farmers across the world.
This year, along with the farming unions of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, we held a one-day exhibition to promote the work farmers are doing to produce climate-friendly food.
The stand, which was on Farmers' Day at COP26, gave the UK farming unions an opportunity to talk to people about how agriculture is uniquely placed to be part of the solution to climate change.
Report
As part of our COP26 activity, we launched a new report - Our Journey to Net Zero - to highlight the work of members and how the NFU is working to reach our target of net zero by 2040.
Media
Presidents from the four UK farming unions came together to answer questions from the media. President Minette Batters was interviewed for media outlets such as ITV News and the BBC Food programme, and North East farming ambassador James Johnson was also interviewed by ITV News.
Online
Members got involved and showed their support on social media with signs and infographics, and by sharing stories of why they are proud to produce climate friendly food. The hashtag #BackBritishFarming was seen by over 2.7million people on that day and NFU content across all social media channels was seen by almost a quarter of a million people.