Secretary of the International Council of Tanners, Dr Kerry Senior, has said he spent an interesting and busy couple of days at the COP29 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Azerbaijan in late November.

He said afterwards that there had been a keen focus in the discussions he witnessed on financing for adaptation and mitigation in the agri-sector. One specific objective to come out of these discussions is a new commitment to reducing methane emissions from organic waste, and in particular from food waste. Food waste accounts for 20% of all methane emissions, delegates heard.

Thirty nations endorsed a new declaration committing to tackling this. The 30 signatories represent 50% of global organic waste emissions. Among the comments was the idea that lowering methane emissions can be “our emergency brake in the climate emergency”.

Dr Senior commented: “The impact of these policies for leather remains to be seen. Livestock will be an obvious target for reducing methane emissions. But minimising organic waste emissions may draw attention to the issue of hide disposal and the need to maximise their use. What better way to do that than to produce leather?”

This message ties in perfectly with new analysis that the Leather and Hide Council of America has carried out of the environmental footprint of hides that go to waste. In a detailed article on the subject in the new issue of World Leather, LHCA senior vice-president, Kevin Latner, explains that previous calculations on the impact of abandoned, unused hides are hugely inaccurate.

Previously, there was acceptance that one tonne of wasted hides would generate emissions of around 850 kilos of CO2-equivalent. His new analysis suggests the true figure would be 13,000 kilos. He also suggests that as many as 130 million hides may go to waste every year. “Choosing not to turn those hides into leather generates emissions of more than 40 million tonnes of CO2e per year,” Mr Latner says.

Dr Kerry Senior has said the leather industry must find a way “to have its voice heard and to have policy-makers understand the climate positive benefit of avoiding hide waste”.

He has called for senior representatives of the global leather industry to work as hard as possible to put this message across to political and business leaders at the next COP conference.

COP30 will take place in 2025 with Belem in Brazil as the host city.