WASHINGTON, DC - On the heels of its engagement during the recent COP29 Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, the International Fresh Produce Association is gearing up for December field days for its USDA Climate-Smart Commodities Grant project titled “A Vibrant Future,” which encourages the use of climate-smart production practices and to create effective tools to measure inputs, outputs (ecosystem services) and yields, as well as creating systems to track, verify, and market climate-friendly produce.
Yet the conversations held and connections made at COP will inform the organization’s sustainability efforts in 2025.
“COP29 was an amazing experience in terms of making contacts with global agricultural leaders who are committed to improving our world,” said Vice President of Sustainability Tamara Muruetagoiena. “It was just a year ago when agriculture was included in the climate plans developed in Dubai and this drove our efforts to seek observer status in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.”
According to a press release, Muruetagoiena represented the voice of produce and floral in panel discussions: one with a delegation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the other with leaders from BIO. She spoke about the fruit, vegetable, and flower communities’ efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, sequester carbon, and build resilience to climate change in produce and floral.
“Being present at COP this year helped us bridge the gap between the fresh produce and floral community and influential policymakers so that they understand the work of our industry and agriculture at large,” she noted. “It is important that the produce and floral community be represented in this global forum, and that we work cooperatively in a pre-competitive way with other agricultural sectors so that decision-makers understand that we are a solution to climate challenges and that we are keenly focused on the environmental health of our planet.”
IFPA will continue its efforts to bring produce, floral, and agriculture to the forefront at COP30 in Brazil, as well as deliver sustainability- and climate-focused programs and value to its members across the globe in the year ahead. This includes Sustainability Summits in Australia and New Zealand, the Executive Leadership Summit, and the joint event with the Consumer Goods Forum, both held in conjunction with Fruit Logistica in Berlin, Germany.
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