Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB) leaders are attending COP28 to discuss how sustainable beef production can contribute to mitigating climate change.

The Conference of Parties (COP) is the main decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

It brings together the 198 parties, including the European Union, that have signed the framework convention.

The inaugural COP occurred in Berlin in 1995, and today, the COP secretariat is headquartered in Bonn, Germany. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is hosting COP28 this year from November 28 until December 12.

GRSB executive director, Ruaraidh Petre said: “I am pleased to be able to take the message from GRSB and our members that the beef sector is working on climate change; farmers, ranchers, and producers are on the front line of climate change and are heavily invested in finding solutions for both adaptation and doing their bit for mitigation.

“Livestock production is a key part of the overall food system, as important for human nutrition as it is to maintain healthy soils for crop production, we need to help policymakers understand the need for holistic solutions, not just one-liners and simplistic approaches to complex issues.”

Members of GRSB will be attending and participating in various events held as part of COP28.

GRSB Latin America regional director, Josefina Eisele added: “One of the most relevant issues at COP28 will be the definition of a major Global Adaptation Goal, whose progress is measurable, something that developing countries have always demanded.

“It is necessary to demand resources to ensure that climate change does not increase poverty and inequality gaps.

“Therefore, it is important to demand compliance with the commitment of developed countries to double climate financing for adaptation in 2025 compared to 2019 levels.”

COP28 events

On December 8, there will be a UNFCCC side event entitled ‘Farmer-Led Adaptation and Mitigation Measures Through Improved Global Livestock Sustainability’.

The event will focus on climate-smart livestock production, showcasing adaptation and mitigation approaches in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Oceania to increase livestock system and grassland resilience.

The event will also discuss finance, targets and measurement of progress to improve sustainability.

On December 9, another event entitled ‘Accelerating the Achievement of NDCs Through Sustainable Livestock Management and Technologies in Grassland Ecosystems’ will take place at the Sustainable Agriculture of the Americas Pavilion.

The event will showcase examples of how sustainable livestock management and technologies can improve grassland ecosystems and strengthen grassland restoration and management, contributing to delivering on the commitments included in the NDCs.

The event will bring together practitioners from Latin America and the Caribbean who will share their successful experiences and encourage replication and scaling up of existing practices across regions.

“Representing GRSB and Latin America at COP28 is a great pride and challenge at the same time,” Eisele continued.

“From the region, we need to make a collective effort so that the voice of Latin America is heard and for its leading role as a region of global solutions against climate change to be recognised.

“With six of the most biodiverse countries in the world, 40% of the biodiversity and more than 25% of the forests worldwide, Latin America and the Caribbean are essential to confront climate change.”

Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef

The Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB) is a worldwide network of people and organisations powering progress in sustainable beef.

Across its global roundtable and 12 regional roundtables, GRSB has over 500 members, working in 24 different countries. Collectively, its members are responsible for more than two-thirds of the cross-border beef trade.

GRSB has said that it powers progress in sustainable beef by setting ambitious goals around reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, improving land use, and animal welfare.

To help achieve these goals, GRSB claims to champion best practices, facilitate the exchange of knowledge and foster a collaborative approach.

Article written by AgriLand

WORLD leaders are set to descend on the oil producing powerhouse of Dubai this week to discuss and assess the impact of efforts to limit global warming.

The summits, which started after the 2016 Paris accord, usually bring together leaders from about 120 countries and have been the start of some significant pieces of legislation – including the Global Methane Pledge and Australia’s plans to become net zero by 2050.

The Australian Government is this year sending over climate change and energy minister Chris Bowen.

If media reports are anything to go by, oil will be a significant part of the discussion with several reports the United Arab Emirates was taking the opportunity to discuss oil deals with about 15 countries. There has also been plenty of talk about scaling up renewable energy and phasing out fossil fuels.

Agriculture will take up a significant chunk of the program – with discussions about regenerating landscapes, reducing methane emissions and the Emirates Declaration, which is aiming to become a toolkit for sustainable agriculture.

In recent years, agriculture has been labelled the “missing piece of the climate puzzle” at COP and concerns have been raised about the summit pandering to the anti-livestock lobby.

The Irish Farmers Journal has raised concerns about this year’s conference doing the same.

“The fact that grass is to Ireland what oil is to Saudi Arabia is neither understood nor appreciated,” it said in an article.

The anti-livestock lobby has been making no secret of its interest in the conference, releasing guides on greenwashing terms the livestock industry may use and pushing the organisers to increase the share of plant-based foods on its menu.

Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef executive director Ruaraidh Petre said he was going to banging to drum for livestock.

“Livestock production is a key part of the overall food system, as important for human nutrition as it is to maintain healthy soils for crop production, we need to help policymakers understand the need for holistic solutions, not just one-liners and simplistic approaches to complex issues.”

Legislating livestock proving difficult for Governments

While many of the discussions have led to countries legislating plans to reduce livestock numbers in recent years, actually implementing them has been difficult.

The Netherlands drew large-scale protests when it planned to shut down up to 3000 farms in a bid to cut its nitrogen emissions. Since then, a farmer-led party has gained the majority in the upper house and far right politician Geert Wilders has become the prime minister, which is said to have an impact on climate legislation.

New Zealand has also been an example after it planned to introduce a “burp tax” by 2025. It saw significant protests and new government elected with plans to push the deadline back and hold further discussions about implementing them.

Focus on adaptation to climate

This year’s event will centre around a “global stocktake” on how the world is tracking on reducing global warming to 1.5 degrees.

It has come up with more than a dozen key findings, with the first one being the recognition that climate action is happening across the world.

Adaptation is a key word throughout the document, a discussion Mr Petre said he was keen to be part of.

“Producers are on the front line of climate change and are heavily invested in finding solutions for both adaptation and doing their bit for mitigation,” he said.

Will COP 28 see a move away from “one size fits all” policies?

National Farmers’ Federation president David Jochinke is leading the Cairns Group of farm leaders from 14 different countries – with a call to move away from sustainability-related trade barriers.

The leaders have launched a joint statement highlighting that “sustainability conditions on trade and market access lack understanding and appreciation of unique local agricultural contexts. There is no ‘one size fits all approach’ to sustainability.”

The global stocktake agrees, with one of key findings stating “when adaptation is informed and driven by local contexts, populations and priorities, both the adequacy and the effectiveness of adaptation action and support are enhanced, and this can also promote transformational adaptation.”

Article written by Beef Central

Ruaraidh Petre, Executive Director of GRSB was recently featured on the podcast TopSoil. Petre and Mitchell Hora discussed different types of regenerative grazing and how the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef began. To listen to the podcast, click here.

Global beef roundtable announces conference agenda to power progress in sustainable beef

October 2022

• The Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef is set to host a global conference in Denver, Colorado, USA
• The event runs from the 7 – 10 November
• Attendees of the ‘Reaching New Heights’ conference will gather to discuss global trends, consumer behaviour, industry progress and breakthroughs, and future plans
• The event will host a range of speakers including the National Wildlife Federation, Tyson Foods and JBS

In November, The Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB) will be hosting its global conference in Denver, Colorado. Over four days, the event will bring together a global network of likeminded individuals with an interest in powering a future of beef sustainability.

Throughout the event, which runs from the 7^th – 10^th November 2022, attendees will benefit from panel discussions, networking events and breakout sessions giving insights into the full scope of beef sustainability and action to improve it. Leading with GRSB’s Climate, Nature Positive and Animal Welfare Goals, related issues to be explored include global markets, supply chain, and cattle genetics. Attendees will also see first-hand how GRSB’s members are actively progressing the global goals through tours at member sites including Cargill, Agricultural Research, Development, and Education Center (ARDEC) Colorado State University and Leachman Cattle of Colorado.

Last year, GRSB launched its sustainability goals focusing on climate, animal health and nature positive production practices. These goals support members’ commitment to reduce the net global warming impact of beef by 30% by 2030.

Confirmed speakers at the event include; Jason Weller, newly appointed Chief Global Sustainability Officer at JBS; Marcelo Gonzalez, Paraguayan Vice Minister of Agriculture; Tim Bettington, EVP and President of Operations at Zoetis, Peter Byck, Arizona State University and Francisco Dallmeier, Smithsonian Institute.   Alongside keynote speakers GRSB will spotlight work on its global goals and provide a clear path to future progress.

Highlights include:

• Monday, 7 November: The Communicators Summit, panel event and networking dinner
• Tuesday, 8 November: Updates on the GRSB Global Goals and a ‘Nature Positive Production’ panel discussion
• Wednesday, 9 November: Discussions on ‘Balancing Production, Consumption and Nutritional Needs’ and ‘Animal Health and Welfare’, and a ‘Concerning Genetics’ panel discussion
• Thursday, 10 November: Three different tour opportunities to various locations discovering new beef sustainability practices

For the full GRSB Global Conference on Sustainable Beef agenda, visit here

Ruaraidh Petre, Executive Director of the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, said: “This conference affords us the opportunity to showcase the outstanding work being undertaken by our organization and its members. We look forward to welcoming like-minded businesses and individuals across the entire beef supply chain to inspire progress and positive change in the sustainable beef industry.”

GRSB launches the Beef Carbon Footprint Guideline to support consistency in emissions reporting worldwide

23 March 2022

The Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB) Scientific Advisory Council has launched the Beef Carbon Footprint Guideline, to allow for sector-wide consistency in the calculation of the carbon footprint of beef cattle.

The creation of the guideline was made possible by a number of notable members of the organization. This included financial support from McDonald’s Corporation and DSM. Blonk Consultants supported by advising on the methodological approach and developing the guideline.

Together, GRSB and its members noticed, that across the sector, businesses and organizations globally were using different methodologies and data to measure their carbon impact – leading to inconsistencies. As such, comparable and consistent measuring across companies, countries and continents was difficult.

This new Beef Carbon Footprint Guideline has therefore been developed based on UN FAO’s LEAP guidance to:

• Quantify emissions from cradle to farm gate or cradle to processing gate
• Allow monitoring of GHG emissions through time for a specific system
• Identify main drivers for GHG emissions in the beef cattle life cycle
• Allow comparisons within the context of the same study
• Complement the dairy sector’s LCA work, also based on FAO LEAP guideline

This announcement builds on the established progress by GRSB and its members to ensure a joint global approach to sustainable beef production. Last year, GRSB launched its global sustainability goals – commitments to advance and improve the sustainability of the global beef value chain. The goals focused on three key areas – climate, nature positive, and animal health and welfare.

Ruaraidh Petre, Executive Director of the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef said: “A key part of GRSB’s mission is to ensure transparency when it comes to evaluating and reporting key sustainability metrics. However, the global beef carbon footprint has, to date, been challenging to effectively track and report.”

“Launching this new guideline will help to create consistency in the global beef sector. There is growing momentum in the industry to protect and nurture the earth’s natural resources and having a clearer carbon footprint guideline will allow us to do this better than ever before.”

To access the Guideline, please click here.

Contacts:
GRSB Executive Director, Ruaraidh Petre Ruaraidh.Petre@grsbeef.org
MHP Mischief grsb@mhpc.com

About the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef

The Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB) is a worldwide network of the people and organizations powering progress in sustainable beef. Across its global roundtable and 12 regional roundtables, GRSB has over 500 members, working in 24 different countries. Collectively, its members are responsible for more than two thirds of cross-border beef trade.

GRSB powers progress in sustainable beef by setting ambitious goals around reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving land use and animal welfare. To help achieve these goals, GRSB champions best practice, facilitates the exchange of knowledge and fosters a collaborative approach.

Australia’s oldest agriculture company – AACo – and one of the nation’s biggest banks – ANZ – have joined forces with the likes of the WWF, Zoetis, and JBS as part of a worldwide network of the people and organisations powering progress in sustainable beef – the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB).

The two new Australian members will join cattle farmers, beef processors, researchers, and investors from all over the world, to help develop a more environmentally responsible, economically resilient, and socially beneficial global beef supply chain.

GRSB Global Goals – 2021 (Public – PT)