Secretary Vilsack Highlights Historic Investments in U.S. Agriculture and Four Years of Climate Progress at COP29

BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 19, 2024 – During the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29), U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack highlighted four years of progress and historic investments made under the Biden-Harris Administration to position U.S. agriculture and forestry as climate leaders, develop innovative climate solutions and build climate-smart markets to provide new revenue streams for rural communities. Today marks the second-ever day at a COP conference focused on the food and agriculture sectors. 

Through a series of events and meetings, Secretary Vilsack showcased the Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, now in its third year, which nearly doubles support for voluntary conservation and climate-smart practices on farm and forestlands. Secretary Vilsack also highlighted USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities initiative and the public and private collaboration underway to create markets that can help meet climate objectives while providing new income opportunities for farmers, ranchers and forest landowners. In addition, Secretary Vilsack announced recent accomplishments of the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate). 

“Over the past four years, the Biden-Harris Administration has made historic progress in tackling climate change by making unprecedented investments in climate action, providing producers with needed conservation assistance, and helping them tap into new markets for climate-smart commodities and products,” Secretary Vilsack said. “Farmers, ranchers and foresters in the U.S. and across the world have experienced the increasing destruction caused by natural disasters – including droughts, floods and extreme weather – all of which are expected to continue and worsen due to climate change. The best way to combat the impacts of climate change is to equip producers of all sizes with the tools they need to adapt and build resilience. 

“At the same time, USDA has served as a global leader through AIM for Climate by significantly increasing investment and support for climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation. The progress made under the Biden-Harris Administration will leave a lasting legacy through a food and agricultural system that is more equitable, sustainable and resilient,” he added.

Secretary Vilsack is participating in COP29 from November 18-20.

AIM for Climate

Since the United States and United Arab Emirates launched AIM for Climate at COP26 in 2021, it has grown to a network of more than 800 partners, including 56 countries. AIM for Climate partners have mobilized $29.2 billion in increased investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation, above a 2020 baseline – $16.7 billion by government partners and $12.5 billion by innovation sprint partners. Secretary Vilsack announced that the United States’ investment has topped $4.3 billion, with nearly $4 billion coming from USDA.

AIM for Climate announced the final cohort of 52 innovation sprints at COP29, increasing the total number to 129. Secretary Vilsack announced that USDA will provide $80 million to Atlas Agro North America Corporation, one of the newest innovation sprint partners, through the Fertilizer Production Expansion Program to increase nitrogen fertilizer availability in the United States without adding to agriculture’s carbon footprint.

At the third AIM for Climate Ministerial, held on the margins of COP29, Secretary Vilsack encouraged partners to continue supporting the goal of AIM for Climate, even as the initiative prepares to sunset in 2025. He challenged partners to embrace and champion the recommendations in the September 2024 report, AIM for Climate Report: Cultivating Transformative Investments in Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems Innovation, to help ensure that we achieve a world where hunger does not exist, communities thrive, and our planet heals.

Historic Investments through the Inflation Reduction Act

Secretary Vilsack underscored the significance of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the single largest investment in climate and clean energy solutions in American history, which provides billions of dollars to help position farmers, ranchers and forest landowners as part of the solution to climate change while encouraging new economic activity in rural areas and protecting the communities most vulnerable to climate change impacts. USDA’s investments total nearly $40 billion. 

Recent USDA investments under the Inflation Reduction Act include:

• Nearly $4 billion in conservation assistance that has helped more than 28,500 farmers and ranchers apply climate-smart practices, on top of the conservation and climate-smart agriculture assistance USDA provides through Farm Bill funding.
• Supporting nearly 7,000 farmers and rural small businesses in developing their own clean energy and energy efficiency systems and supporting more than 70 small-scale clean energy projects to support rural communities and generate local revenue.
• More than $8.3 billion, resulting in over $13 billion in New ERA financed grants and loans, to support the transformation of rural electric cooperatives to clean energy –encompassing one in five rural households, farms, businesses and schools, as well as generating more than 10 gigawatts of new clean energy and reducing more than 43.7 million tons of greenhouse gases annually;
• More than $2.6 billion to reduce wildfire risk on 1.8 million acres encompassing 550 communities, 2,500 miles of power lines, and 1,800 watersheds with an economic value of $700 billion; and
• $1.5 billion for an urban and community forestry program that helps disadvantaged communities improve resilience to climate change, extreme heat, forest pests and diseases, and storm events.

Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities 

Through the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, USDA has invested more than $3 billion since 2022, supporting more than 21,000 farms encompassing more than five million acres across the United States. These projects are expanding markets for climate-smart commodities, allowing all types of producers – including small and underserved ones – to leverage the greenhouse gas benefits of climate-smart commodity production, and providing direct and meaningful benefits to production agriculture.

As a result of these projects, more than 40 climate-smart commodities are now available to consumers, including rice, beef, yogurt, milk, coffee, beer, vodka, rye whiskey, bourbon and gin. Projects have also produced low-carbon biofuels, including sustainable aviation fuel. Additional projects continue to come online, allowing consumers and farmers alike to access new markets for climate-smart commodities.

In October, USDA released a progress report highlighting the success of the initiative. 

Sharing Resources with the Global Community 

At COP29, USDA also highlighted its International Climate Hub, launched in 2023 to share U.S. climate science and to increase the resilience of global farmers, ranchers and foresters to climate impacts. The Hub has grown into a relevant resource with 26,000 users worldwide who take advantage of its climate-informed decision support tools, webinars, resources and international events. In the coming months, the Hub plans to launch several new initiatives and products, including the AgroClimate Atlas, which will provide regional climate and crop data, the International Climate Learning Network, and a Know Your Global Farmer interview series. 

Detailed information about U.S. government activities at COP29, including video links to Secretary Vilsack’s sessions, can be found at: https://www.state.gov/climate-crisis/u-s-center-at-cop29/

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