Press release
Minister Heydon to lead Irish involvement at major Agriculture and Climate Summit in the US
From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Published on
Last updated on
Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for research and innovation, Martin Heydon, will lead Irelands involvement in a major international agriculture and climate change summit in Washington D.C next week, the Agricultural Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM4C).
The goal of AIM for Climate is to address climate change and global hunger by bringing together partners to significantly increase investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation. Ireland joined the United States (US) and United Arab Emirates (UAE) led initiative as a government partner when it was launched at the UN COP26 conference in Glasgow in 2021. It now has 47 government and over 350 non-governmental partners.
Speaking ahead of the summit, Minister Heydon said:
“I have witnessed first-hand the extensive, ground-breaking science being undertaken as a result of research funded by my department. This is equipping the agriculture sector with the necessary tools to contribute to Irelands overall climate mitigation objectives. I am strongly of the belief that innovation has a critical role to play and we need to build on this progress, especially through international collaboration. The AIM for Climate initiative is an important vehicle to accelerate this collaboration.”
Minister Heydon will participate in the AIM for Climate Ministerial meeting where US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment Mariam Almheiri will provide an update on progress achieved since the last Summit. Minister Heydon will update the meeting on related activities taking place in Ireland and outline a series of new initiatives planned. The Summit will also see addresses by Al Gore, former US Vice President, John Kerry, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, and Ban Ki-moon, former UN Secretary General.
In addition, Minister Heydon will participate in a Ministerial meeting of the Agriculture Breakthrough initiative. Ireland is one of nine countries participating in the initiative which is focused on accelerating the deployment and adoption of climate-resilient technologies on farms.
Minister Heydon concluded:
“Ireland is positioning itself as a leader in research and innovation in climate smart agriculture. I am keen to build on this through the extensive engagements planned in Washington next week to ensure that the efforts our scientists, advisors and farmers are already making are well recognised, and to continue work towards a food production system that is economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable."
The Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate / AIM4C) is a joint initiative by the United States and the United Arab Emirates. The initiative was established in 2022, being formally launched at COP26 in Glasgow, UK, on 2 November 2021. AIM for Climate is currently supported by over 275 governmental and non-governmental partners, comprising governments, businesses, academia, non-profit foundations and think tanks.
The goal of AIM for Climate is to address climate change and global hunger by uniting participants to significantly increase investment in, and other support for, climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation over five years (2021 – 2025). This is with the intention to raise global ambition and drive more rapid and transformative climate action in all countries – including by enabling science-based and data-driven decision and policy-making – to refocus and empower agriculture as part of the solution to address the climate crisis and create co-benefits tackling climate action.
With the support of the government and non-government partners, AIM for Climate announced at COP27 a doubling of investment for the period 2021-2025 of more than $8 billion, up from $4 billion at COP26.
Involvement by Ireland in AIM for Climate was announced at the UN Food Systems Summit on 23 September 2021, and DAFM formally joined as a Government Partner at its official launch on 2 November 2021 at COP26 in Glasgow.
As part of this, Ireland through DAFM committed to increase spending on climate related research by 40% in the period 2021-2025.
Minister McConalogue attended the inaugural Ministerial Meeting virtually in February 2022.
Details of the AIM for Climate initiative can be found here: AIM for Climate.
Details of the Summit can be found here: Homepage - AIM for Climate Summit (cvent.com).