Organic farming, nuclear testing bans, treaties: climate wins over the years

This year’s COP climate conference ended with a deal that failed to convince even its supporters, and though public discourse on climate change efforts may be changing, sometimes climate efforts win out.

The Luxembourg Times reached out to a variety of organisations and institutes active in environmental and climate topics, and put together a few of their climate wins.

Organic farming

“I have seen this time and time again over the last 12 years,” said Daniela Noesen from the Vereenegung fir Biolandwirtschaft Lëtzebuerg. “Organic farming works.”

“The organic farming system works in all areas: soil, plants, animals and humans form a unit in which each supports the other. This is how biodiversity and the climate are effectively protected,” she explained.

Conventional farming relies on chemicals to grow stronger crops and kill weeds. There is less crop variety, resulting in a loss of biodiversity. Land is farmed more aggressively – with organic farming using more land for lower yields – and conditions for animals are more cramped, with synthetic food additives and medicines commonly used.

Industrial agriculture substantially contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, which in turn make farmers one of the most vulnerable groups in the face of climate change.

Organic farming has proven it works, Daniela Noesen said © Photo credit: Daniela Noesen

Climate change makes for unpredictable seasons and extreme weather events which can lead to poorer harvests and material losses and damages for farmers, a report published at the end of last year by the Good and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations concluded.

“The benefits of organic farming for nature and society are proven – its value must now be honoured. We need an agriculture that will still exist in 100 or 1,000 years,” Noesen said.

Global efforts

For advocacy group Greenpeace Luxembourg, two ‘climate wins’ come to mind when asked about their past achievements: the global ban on nuclear testing and the UN Global Ocean Treaty.

“In 1996, after decades of campaigning by Greenpeace and other advocacy groups, a historic milestone was achieved with the adoption of a global nuclear weapons testing ban,” a spokesperson for the group said in a written exchange.

“The treaty, negotiated between 1994 and 1996, marked a significant step towards global disarmament. By prohibiting all nuclear test explosions, the release of radiation and radioactive materials into the atmosphere was significantly lessened,” she explained.

“This effort not only reduced environmental pollution but also mitigated potential health risks associated with the absorption of these harmful substances by human bodies,” she continued.

© Photo credit: Anna Schleimer / Odyssea

A more recent success, the 2023 UN Global Ocean Treaty came “after years of intense negotiations,” Greenpeace said.

A “significant milestone”, the treaty is “supposed to set the rules and tools for protecting ocean life over nearly half of our planet,” the spokesperson said.

“The treaty is celebrated as the biggest conservation victory ever, paving the way for the creation of ocean sanctuaries where ecosystems can recover and thrive, potentially saving our oceans from the brink of disaster,” Greenpeace explained.

“Greenpeace’s extensive documentation of marine life challenges and ecosystems, from destructive fishing practices to deep sea mining, played a pivotal role in this success.”

Planting protein in Luxembourg

For Stéphanie Zimmer, the director of the Luxembourg institute for organic farming Ibla, one climate win would be the success of its “Legume Value Chain” project launched in the spring of last year, she said in an email.

“Through close collaboration between project coordinators, Ibla advisors, and agricultural enterprises, lentils of the Anicia variety (also known as Puy lentils) and Beluga were successfully cultivated. The harvest was processed using state-of-the-art technology and is now available in food wholesale markets, organic specialty stores, and farm shops,” she said.

The institute does research and offers consulting to farmers in its efforts to support a sustainable agricultural and food system that produces high quality food without damaging nature.

“The project underscores the importance of close collaboration between research, advisory services, and farmers for the success of new crops,” Zimmer said.

Pointing a finger at traditional agriculture for its negative impact on the environment isn’t helpful, as the sector is “also part of the solution” to the ecological challenges that threaten the sector and our food system.

“Agriculture is integral to our food system, which, in addition to numerous stakeholders, primarily includes us as consumers,” Zimmer said, inviting the public to a workshop on working out what sustainable agriculture and food production could look like.