COP28 has set a precedent by dedicating a thematic day to food systems
Photo: iStock As world leaders gather at the 28th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP28) hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from November 30 to December 12, food systems and agriculture have finally found themselves on the agenda.
This will be the first such COP to have a major focus on food systems, their sustainability and acknowledge their critical role in achieving the Paris Agreement Goals. Besides dedicating a day to discussing food, agriculture and water on December 10, in their COP28 Food Systems and Agriculture Agenda, the UAE has called on world leaders to sign on to their COP28 Declaration on Resilient Food Systems, Sustainable Agriculture, and Climate Action.
The declaration recognises the link between food systems and climate change and invites national governments to align their national food systems and agriculture strategies with their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) under the Paris Agreement.
Although food systems account for an average 34 per cent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and also supports the livelihoods of around half the world’s population, it has been a missing piece of the puzzle in climate negotiations during the previous editions of the conference.
Food systems and agriculture experts said that to close the massive gap that has left food systems excluded, governments at COP28 will have to decide on key political messages, opportunities and good practices to enhance national climate action plans, based on the global stocktake.
Nicole Pita, project manager, International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES)-Food, said that this movement on food systems at COP28 was promising and much needed as national food and climate action is weak and fragmented.
“Plans that do exist lack joined-up approaches that span the whole food system (they neglect diets, as well as food loss and waste), lack coordination between local, regional and national levels of government and lack measurable commitments. We must completely transform the way we eat, farm and distribute food. What we need is a whole food system transformation to diversified, climate resilient food systems,” said Pita.
But the lack of clear direction on what food system transformation actually means is worrisome and that this along with a lack of timetables and ambitious measurable targets could paradoxically entrench climate-causing industrial agriculture and other false solutions, said Lim Li Ching, co-chair of IPES-Food.
Agriculture is a victim of climate change. But it is also responsible for more than a third of all GHGs. However, food systems have not been addressed comprehensively at any climate COP and most countries’ climate plans do not include actionable plans directed towards them.
The only programme under UNFCCC that focuses on agriculture and food security was the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture (KJWA), which was established in 2017 at COP23 in Bonn, Germany. The KJWA has since been considered the formal mechanism for discussing food at COP. It organised a few events at COP26 in Glasgow, but as usual, its voice and visibility was subdued.
At COP27, held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, the final document produced in the Koronivia Dialogue, the main forum at COP27 to address agriculture on the side of the negotiations, had the words ‘agroecology’ and ‘food systems’ removed from the text and the emphasis was placed on the supply side of food, while demand-related issues, such as food loss and waste or unsustainable consumption patterns, were excluded.
In that sense, COP28 has set a precedent by dedicating a thematic day to food systems.
Prioritising food systems cannot come at the expense of phasing out fossil fuels, a key climate demand that the COP28 president and acting chief of state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, is under intense pressure from food campaigners to meet, given the high use of fossil fuels in food systems, said Pita.
A recent report Power Shift by the Global Alliance for the Future of Food and Dalberg Advisers, an impact advisory group, found that food systems account for at least 15 per cent of global fossil fuels usage annually, equivalent to 4.6 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide, with fossils embedded in the industrial food system in all four stages of value chain: Input materials for agrochemicals, land use and production, processing and packaging, and retail, consumption, and waste.
The data revealed that as the use of fossil fuels for transport and power diminishes due to the increasing adoption of renewable energy, the fossil fuel industry is reinforcing the reliance of food systems on high-carbon energy by making significant investments in petrochemicals to manufacture plastics, pesticides and fertilisers.
This means comprehensively changing the way we produce food, process and package it, sell and consume it, and dispose of waste. “Yet, the COP28 Presidency appears to be opening the door even wider to fossil fuel and Big Agriculture lobbyists — these clear conflicts of interest do not bode well for the needed fossil fuel phase out and food systems transformation,” said Li Ching.
Even at COP27, there were serious concerns of greenwashing by big food and agricultural lobbyists being more than double in attendance. “We fear the same trend will continue at COP28, with these lobbyists pushing unproven technological food and farming fixes. So-called “climate-smart” solutions like the “efficient” use of fertilisers and pesticides will only further entrench harmful industrial food and agriculture systems,” she said.
The United States and UAE-led Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate Initiative has been criticised often for championing such solutions.
Experts also warned to steer clear of solutions like soil carbon offsetting. New data indicates that countries will need around 1 billion hectares – larger than the area of the entire US – to implement their land-based climate mitigation pledges – leading to land grabs and negative impacts on livelihoods, land rights, food production and ecosystems.
While the newly established workstream — now called the Sharm el-Sheikh Joint Work on Implementation of Climate Action of Agriculture and Food Security (SSJW) — failed to integrate a holistic approach to food systems in its activities at negotiations during the Bonn Climate Change Conference in June, a coalition of 70 organisations and high-profile individuals has issued an urgent call, in a joint letter, to integrate a food systems approach within the UNFCCC.
On a national level, the signatories called for food systems actions to be incorporated into National Adaptation Plans (NAP), NDCs and long-term strategies.
COP28 comes at a time when disasters from floods to droughts have caused immense loss to farmers, agriculture and food security, especially in the Global South. “We cannot continue with agribusiness as usual. A just transition away from resource-intensive food systems towards more resilient, diverse systems is crucial to reverse the climate crisis and adapt to extreme weather while improving food security and global health,” said Pita.
A new report by IPES-Food documented that while national governments were lagging, local governments in cities and regions were spearheading action to cut GHG emissions in addition to providing a wide range of social, health, economic and environmental benefits.
This is happening by promoting healthy and sustainable diets, reducing food waste, shortening food supply chains, supporting a transition to organic farming and ensuring their poorest inhabitants can access healthy and sustainable food.
“There is an urgent need to push for a transformation of food systems centered on agroecology. The multifunctional benefits of agroecology make it uniquely relevant for socioecological resilience, climate justice and the realisation of various human rights,” said Li Ching.
Agriculture has not been a top priority for many countries when they look at climate change adaptation and especially when it comes to climate financing. A recent report Untapped Potential found that smallholder farmers only receive 0.3 per cent of climate finance.
Smallholder farming systems, particularly in the Global South, are on the frontlines of climate crisis and there is an urgent need to channel funds to smallholder farmers. According to Li Ching key elements to consider include: Ensuring the ease of accessing funds for smallholder farmers, a significant percentage of the funds to be allocated to smallholder farmers, and participation of smallholder farmers, as a specific observer group, in the governance of the fund.
For now, there is no specific focus on areas where financing should be channelled in the outcome document of the final meeting of the Transitional Committee (TC) on the operationalisation of the new funding arrangements for responding to loss and damage and the fund.
“What exactly will be finally adopted at COP28 remains a matter of concern, as the US, a TC member, refused to join the consensus after adoption of the outcome package. The governing body of the Fund, the Board, is expected to develop guidelines for triggers as well as for thematic substructures so this will be future work for after the Board is established,” she said.
This year's agenda includes the critical discussion on the establishment of a Loss and Damage Fund agreed last year at COP27. To highlight how agrifood systems are at the frontlines of loss at damage, the Food and Agriculture Organization will be publishing the report Loss and Damage and Agrifood Systems − Taking Climate Action Forward during the first days of COP.
“We are going to go to COP already equipped with an analysis that shows what loss and damage means to agriculture, to food systems, to the communities that depend on them as a way of keeping up the momentum to building towards this fund that is being discussed and to redirecting investments to where they are really needed, to the most vulnerable, many of whom are within the communities working on food and agriculture,” Kaveh Zahedi, Director of the FAO office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment, said in a statement.
This fund, he said, was going to be vital to especially help farming and agricultural communities at the last stage of the climate impact whereadaptation is no longer possible.
We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.
.png)
Comments are moderated and will be published only after the site moderator’s approval. Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name. Selected comments may also be used in the ‘Letters’ section of the Down To Earth print edition.