Transition to a sustainable and healthy agri-food system: the law as a driver for establishing a partnership for people, planet and climate.
Recent studies made by system climate scientists at the University of Illinois and published on Nature Food review have found that global production of food is responsible for a third of all planet-heating gases emitted by human activity. The raising and culling of animals for food is far worse for the climate than growing and processing fruits and vegetables for people to eat, and use of animals for meat, particularly beef, seems to cause twice the pollution of producing plant-based foods. The entire cycle of food production system, such as the use of farming machinery, spraying of fertilizer and transportation of products, causes 17.3bn metric tons of greenhouse gases a year, according to the research. This enormous release of gases that fuel the climate crisis represents 35% of all global emissions, researchers said, and policymakers should avail of the results to think about how to control greenhouse gas emissions.
The panel intends to jointly consider the legal aspect of the various related aspects from different angles, starting from how supranational and national regulations intend to counteract the effects of climate change to how lawyers can contribute to sustainable development, to ensure the control of food quality and origin, in a changing environment. This is to be done in parallel with scientific development - to achieve solutions involving better management of the planet's animal and plant heritage, making use of new cultivation and breeding techniques, combined with products made in the laboratory. And this is to be done while guaranteeing freedom of research on the one hand and assessing their possible long-term effects on the human body on the other, given the complexity and novelty of the production processes. The subject is also intended to support and implement the values and objectives of the UIA Sustainability Project Rome Congress Resolution on sustainability and the role of the legal profession in the different areas of relevant practice.