Ireland was one of four new countries to endorse an ‘Agriculture Breakthrough’ agreement at COP27 in Egypt.

The ‘Agriculture Breakthrough’ is one of five which are part of the so called ‘Breakthrough Agenda’, launched by a coalition of 45 world leaders, whose countries collectively represent over 70% of global GDP, at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, last year. The other four parts of the agenda cover power, road transport, steel and hydrogen.

As part of the agreement, Ireland has now signed up to make “climate-resilient, sustainable agriculture the most widely adopted option by 2030”.

The Agriculture Breakthrough aims to drive investment in agricultural research in order to address the challenges of food insecurity and increase the speed of decarbonisation.

However, it is not yet clear what the commitment means for Irish farmers on the ground.

Australia, Cambodia, Germany and Ireland were the four countries to join the Agricultural Breakthrough at COP27, bringing the total number of countries giving their endorsement to the agreement to 13.

The UK and Egypt have agreed to lead the 13 countries and the presidency of COP28 next year, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has also confirmed its support. This means the Agriculture Breakthrough will be supported at three consecutive COPs.

Conference close

The United Nations Climate Change Conference COP27 in Egypt closed on Sunday with an agreement to provide “loss and damage” funding for vulnerable countries hit hard by climate disasters also secured.

The funding is designed to support those countries in the developing world most impacted by climate change and is an “important point of progress”, according to organisers.

While it is not yet clear how much the fund will be worth, governments at COP27 agreed to establish a ‘transitional committee’ to make recommendations on how the fund will be managed. The committee will make these proposals at COP28 next year and its first meeting is expected to take place before the end of March 2023.

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