Idris Elba concerned about food production and its impact on climate change

Glasgow (R.Unido). British actor Idris Elba has been active in advocating the need to change habits and produce food on the planet as a way to combat climate change.

The debate over food must be amplified. Speaking at the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow (United Kingdom), Elba said, in his capacity as ambassador for the International Fund for Agricultural Development of the United Nations.

Along with his wife Sabrina, who is also a fund ambassador, and Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate, Elba admitted that he himself was annoyed at seeing famous faces on a forum like COP26, but he justified it by the fact that he could use his popularity in order to shake consciences over an urgent problem.

“I was surprised to see citizens in the West queuing up for food during the worst moments of the pandemic, not because of climate change, but because the supply chain has been damaged. And it will be hurt even more if we don’t figure out what to do about climate change and food systems,” he said.

The translator, best known for his role as “Stringer Bell” in the series “The Wire” drew attention to the situation of small farmers “who produce 80% of what we eat”, because they are the ones who realize that “the crops are less and less because the rain is different, the soil is different … and on a day of The days we will go to the supermarket and the food will not be there.”

“I think we can all watch what we eat. The actor stressed, before asking to put the African continent “at the center of the debate,” agriculture and food.

Specifically, Uganda’s Nakate – considered the African “Greta Thunberg” – participated in the COP, having demonstrated in previous days out of the box, to remind that if humans adopted a plant-based diet, many emissions would be reduced.

“Agriculture and land use together account for 25% of total carbon emissions,” said the young woman, who also emphasized that “to achieve zero emissions hunger must be eradicated” in developing countries.