- Environment Secretary to deliver a speech to Departments of
Agriculture chiefs from all 50 States.
- Thérèse Coffey commits UK to continue to work closely with US
to promote global food security and sustainable food production.
- This marks the first time a foreign minister has addressed
the prestigious NASDA conference.
Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey will call on both the UK and
US to continue to stand together to a forge a more secure and
sustainable future for agriculture.
In a speech at the National Association of State Departments of
Agriculture (NASDA) Winter Conference in Washington DC later
today (15 February), the Environment Secretary will outline how
UK and US co-operation is vital to promote sustainable food
production and global food security and will pay tribute to the
farmers of Ukraine.
NASDA plays a crucial role in US agriculture, with
representatives from the Departments of Agriculture in all 50
States and four US territories. The speech will be the first time
a foreign minister has addressed the conference – demonstrating
the strength of UK and US collaboration on sustainable
agriculture, food security and improving nature and biodiversity.
This follows the recent launch of the Government’s Environmental
Improvement Plan – the five year delivery plan to halt
and reverse the decline in nature. The Environment Secretary is
expected to highlight how ensuring nature and food production go
hand-in-hand is a vital, shared goal between the two countries,
with both developing landmark reforms to incentivise and reward
environmental stewardship, while also harnessing new markets and
tackling threats posed to food security by climate change.
Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey is expected to
say:
“It is vitally important that we continue to stand together, in
defence of the freedom, democracy, and common decency that our
nations treasure so deeply. We must also continue to work
together to forge a more secure, more sustainable future for
agriculture. We must strengthen the resilience of our
environment, our businesses, and our communities, and improve the
prosperity and food security of every generation to come.
“Farmers are the original friends of the earth, the first to
understand that making space for nature can and must go alongside
food production. This is not mutually exclusive, but absolutely
symbiotic. Working with nature – not against it – is the natural
instinct of every farmer I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.
“As we work together to promote sustainable food production, we
need to commend the immense contribution farming makes to our
communities, and the sheer grit, ingenuity and determination it
takes to keep us fed.”
The Environment Secretary will also pay tribute to farmers in the
breadbasket of Europe, Ukraine, for their efforts in continuing
to promote food security across the globe, and will outline the
UK’s continued support to Ukraine.
Thérèse Coffey is expected to add:
“Amidst the turmoil of war, it is truly extraordinary that the
farmers of Ukraine have managed to get so much of the 2022
harvest in. At a time when Ukrainians themselves are suffering so
much, the initiative to get grain from Ukraine, to some of the
poorest and most vulnerable people in the world, is an act of
global humanity at its very best.
“I was proud to send a contribution to support those efforts, on
behalf of our government and our people, as I know the United
States have done as well. This forms part of the wider support
that we are sending to Ukraine, and the work that the UK has led
through the G7 to help identify stolen grain and frustrate
Russia’s efforts to profit from that theft.”
During her trip to the US, the Environment Secretary also met
with US government officials, Senators, and CEOs from agri-tech
start-ups. She also visited a brewery which makes craft beers
from a combination of American and imported British ingredients,
North Carolina State University’s new plant science facility and
the Alexandria AgTech Innovation Centre.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- The speech will take place for 15 minutes at approximately
12:30pm in Washington DC – this is 5:30pm UK time. The final
speech will be uploaded to GOV.UK once the speech has concluded.
