Stop Financing Factory Farming Coalition Reacts to World Bank’s Climate Commitment

Stop Financing Factory Farming
12th October '23

Today, World Bank shareholders voted to update the World Bank’s mission statement to explicitly include a commitment to addressing climate change, stating it will work “to create a world free of poverty on a liveable planet.” In response, Kelly McNamara, Senior Research and Policy Analyst with Friends of the Earth US, issued a statement on behalf of the Stop Financing Factory Farming campaign:

“While today’s vote to broaden the World Bank’s mandate to address the climate crisis is a positive step forward, the World Bank’s actions must echo its words. If the World Bank intends for its operations to match its new mission, the Bank must end support for industrial livestock production.

“The climate consequences of industrial animal agriculture are staggering. Studies estimate livestock production will use up nearly half the world’s 1.5°C emissions budget by 2030 and 80% by 2050. The World Bank’s continued support for the global expansion of factory farming is exacerbating the climate crisis at a time when the Bank has committed to align its strategies, investments, and activities with the Paris Agreement’s aim of limiting global warming to well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C. To help preserve our collective chances at a world free of poverty on a livable planet, the World Bank must cease its support for factory farming, the continued expansion of which threatens to keep the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals firmly out of reach.  

“Today, we urge the World Bank to seize this pivotal moment to align its food sector investments with its expanded mission. This must involve shifting support away from corporate conglomerates engaged in highly extractive and destructive agricultural practices. It must also involve directing support toward diversified, agroecological, mixed crop and livestock and plant-based systems that not only deliver climate and biodiversity-related benefits but also support small-scale farmers who are the backbone of community food sovereignty and food security. To forego this opportunity would be a disservice to the planet and future generations.”

To learn more about why the Bank’s investments in industrial livestock are at odds with its Paris Agreement Commitments, click here to read the Stop Financing Factory Farming campaign’s recent report

The Stop Financing Factory Campaign works in partnership with locally affected communities and organizations to shift development finance away from industrial livestock production. Campaign Steering Committee members include: the Bank Information Center, Friends of the Earth U.S., the Global Forest Coalition, International Accountability Project (Early Warning System), Sinergia Animal, and World Animal Protection.

Contact: Holly Shulman for the Stop Financing Factory Farming Coalition
+1-603-715-4321, [email protected]

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