“If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu”: A farmer returns from COP28

Victorian young farmer Jamie Pepper attended COP28 in Dubai last week and was surprised to find that delegates had a healthy appetite for a conversation with an Aussie farmer.

So, it was apt that the most powerful message he heard while attending the event was: “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu”.

Mr Pepper, a beef and lamb farmer from Tahara, near Hamilton, attended the 28th annual United Nations climate meeting where governments discuss how to limit and prepare for future climate change.

And he was in demand at the event, which was largely attended by policy makers and government representatives.

He recalled that his World Farmers Organisation badge garnered attention, with those who spotted it keen to engage in conversation about what farming was really like in Australia and the issues that were faced – bushfires were a hot topic of conversation. It was a rare opportunity to speak with someone who was actively managing a farm.

“People were genuinely excited to meet actual farmers,” Mr Pepper said.

“It was an opportunity for networking and storytelling and sharing. I think I enjoyed that part the most.”

Jamie said he had no idea what to expect at COP28, but was pleased to find that agriculture and food was being discussed.

“I heard this so often, from many different people, not just farming people - it was the first COP that food and agriculture was front and centre. To be able to bring that ag lens to any climate discussion is a major thing that hadn’t been at the forefront of people’s mind before.

“People outside the industry are understanding that farmers and food producers and the food system have a big role to play in helping countries get to net zero and decarbonising. 

“You can’t just tell farmers to stop farming to mitigate emissions.

“The ag voice needs to be at the table.”

The role of agriculture, particularly deforestation and upskilling farmers in developing nations was a key agenda item at COP28 in Dubai.

Mr Pepper was the first Australian participant of the World Farmers Organisation’s Gymnasium, a leadership program for young farmers from around the world.

It was this program that led to his attendance at COP28 to introduce a panel on Saturday called: Powering change, sustainability and the future of food.

“In my opinion, the benefit of bringing together today, younger farmers and sustainable energy experts cannot be overstated,” he said during his speech. 

“We are all in this together, and we need to share and collaborate to have united and actionable outcomes. 

“Farmers are in the unique situation where we manage large land masses globally and we can play an active role in helping to move countries to net zero. 

“It is why COP28 is so important. With the world’s leaders, the decision makers and the professionals all here together, a sense of unity and global cohesion can be attained.”

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Mr Pepper is active in advocating for farmers, including representing Sheep Producers Australia on the National Farmers Federation’s Young Farmers Council and as the Deputy Chair of Food and Fibre Great South Coast.

Australia's world class farming credentials

Meanwhile, Central Queensland cattle producer Adam Coffey, who did not attend the event, said COP was another opportunity to promote the environmental credentials of the grass-fed red meat sector and to challenge the misinformed anti-meat agenda on a global stage.

Cattle Australia's Adam Coffey

“Australian livestock producers lead the world in emissions reduction, mitigation and sequestration practices,” said Mr Coffey, who is also a Director on the board of Cattle Australia, the peak body for grass-fed cattle producers.

“Cattle Australia is challenging the long-held belief and narrative that our emissions are a one-way street and is using modern climate science to better understand the warming impact of short-lived climate gasses like methane, particularly differentiating biogenic methane from fossil sources. 

“Our livestock production systems have the unique ability to recapture vast amounts of Co2 out of the atmosphere through photosynthesis in our above ground vegetation and in our soils.

“For too long our emissions have been regarded as linear and cumulative, when in reality that simply isn’t the case. 

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“Australian livestock producers are some of the most ambitious in the world in terms of reducing emissions, and while we will continue to play our part, we need a level playing field that displays the cyclical nature of biogenic emissions.”