U.S. Agriculture’s climate change mitigation efforts were showcased at COP28. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
At last year’s UN climate conference, COP 27, US agriculture, was in some cases on the defensive about its work on climate change. But in this year’s conference-
“We flipped the script for American agriculture,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, said on the phone with reporters right after the conference in Dubai, which he said was a much different experience this year.
“There was no need for us to be defensive, but, in fact, we could articulate proactive leadership in the climate space,” he said.
For the first time, the three-day COP meeting devoted a full day to the roles food and agriculture play in climate change. Vilsack said the US got to showcase what US farmers and ranchers are doing in a variety of ways to mitigate and adapt to a changing climate and doing it in a sustainable way.
Vilsack said from what he saw and heard at the conference, “There’s real interest in what the US is doing and interest and excitement and what we’re doing.”
Gary Crawford reporting for the US Department of Agriculture.
Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.