Minister Heydon to lead Irish involvement at major Agriculture and Climate Summit in the US

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for research and innovation, Martin Heydon T.D, 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".

Itinerary

Monday 8th May

- Summit opening and high level plenary

- AIM for Climate Ministerial meeting

- Meeting with New Zealand Minister for Agriculture Damien O'Connor

Tuesday 9th

- High level plenary

- Agriculture Breakthrough Ministerial meeting

- Meeting with UAE Minister for Climate Change and Environment Her Excellency Mariam Almheiri

- EU Soil Mission Breakout Session (will include remarks from Minister Heydon and Dr Karen Daly, Senior Environmental Research Officer Teagasc)

- Irish Aid / USAID Malawi Innovation Sprint launch

Wednesday 10th

- High level plenary

- Meeting with USDA Under Secretary Jacobs Young (Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics, and USDA Chief Scientist)

- Meeting with USDA Under Secretary Bonnie (Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation, USDA)

- Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine and Climate KIC Breakout Session

Notes

• 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 2nd 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 23rd September 2021, and DAFM formally joined as a Government Partner at its official launch on 2nd 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)