Most countries are yet to realise the full potential of including & implementing action on food systems in their climate strategies and action plans, notes report
On the current trajectory, emissions from food systems alone will exceed 1.5°C between 2051-2063. Representative photo: iStock. Agrifood systems contribute to around 30 per cent of global emissions but hardly receive due attention in global climate negotiations. In order to address this, a group of leading international food organisations and businesses has come up with a document.
The document outlines six pathways for policymakers to accelerate urgent action to transform food systems. It was launched on the fourth day of the Bonn Climate Change Conference, which is expected to lay the groundwork for the global stocktake and negotiations at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai later this year.
Pathways for food systems transformation report released by the Food Systems Partnership on June 8, 2023, called for food and agriculture to be central to global climate dialogue and negotiations.
Also read: Sustainable rice production key to food security
It synthesised key findings from national action plans, analysis of nationally determined contributions (NDC) and assessments from leading organisations, including the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Global Alliance for the Future of Food and the Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU).
The findings revealed that most countries were yet to realise the full potential of including and implementing action on food systems in their climate strategies and action plans.
The Bonn Climate Change Conference is a critical moment to elevate food systems within global climate negotiations, said Lucy Wallace, Chief of Staff at EIT Food, which is serving as the Secretariat for the Food Systems Partnership.
“COP27 failed to fully recognise the role of food systems in strengthening climate adaptation, mitigation and resilience. This year we must go further and faster,” Wallace added.
The report outlines six themes for parties to embed throughout the negotiations in Bonn and beyond:
1. Enhance collaboration and inclusion at all levels and across all parts of our food systems.
2. Enable a transition to healthy, nutritious and sustainable diets for all.
3. Embrace agricultural reform and nature-positive production.
4. Increase action against food loss and waste.
5. Transform financial mechanisms to support sustainable, equitable food systems.
6· Champion consistent, accurate monitoring and reporting to track global progress on implementation.
“Our global food systems both contribute to climate change and offer some of the biggest opportunities to help solve the climate crisis while at the same time bolstering equity for smallholder food producers, ensuring inclusivity for Indigenous Peoples and enhancing community wellbeing. Together we can make significant progress at COP28 and beyond,” said Tom Grasso, vice president of Climate Resilient Food Systems at the Environmental Defense Fund.
Agriculture is a victim of climate change. But it is also responsible for over a third of all greenhouse gas emissions. However, food systems have not been addressed comprehensively at any climate conference of parties (COP), and most countries’ climate plans do not include plans to take action on food systems. The sector receives meagre climate finance — between 3-5 per cent.
On the current trajectory, emissions from food systems alone will exceed 1.5°C between 2051-2063. But despite food and agriculture being recognised as the largest sources of environmental degradation, there was no mention of food or food systems in any of the four Global Goals for 2050 outlined in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework launched at the COP15 to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity held in November last year.
Also read: Recognise, empower indigenous land tenure and title to achieve SDGs holistically: UN Report
In fact, agriculture has not been a top priority for many countries when they look at climate change adaptation. But for the first time this year, the topic of food systems and agriculture was discussed at the annual COP to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and made it to the main agenda.
It was also the first time the Food and Agriculture Organization had an agriculture and food systems pavilion, where the linkages between climate change and agriculture were discussed.
Building on this momentum, the Food Systems Partnership said it will focus on convening and unifying stakeholders across the food and climate movements and spanning the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, from farmers and youth to policymakers and scientists.
The partnership plans to attract a diverse community of supporters and establish a new ‘Producers Hub’ led by food producers at COP28. It has announced a formal relationship with the Food4Climate Pavilion.
Katie McCoshan, Policy and International Engagement Manager at FOLU, said:
At COP27, we focused on building connections and cultivating a shared food and land use systems agenda within the community. This year, we seek to forge deeper partnerships and put them into practice at COP28 as well as at COP29 and beyond.
“We are exploring who else needs to be included in a systems-wide approach to food and land use systems transformation. This approach is critical not just to the climate agenda, but to health, livelihoods, energy, nature and water. The only option is to work together, including within the formal UNFCCC processes,” McCoshan added.
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