The UAE’s COP28 presidency has placed food systems transformation at the heart of its COP agenda – and for good reason. Accounting on average 34% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and support the livelihoods and income generation for about half of the world’s populationEnsuring a just transition to sustainable and resilient food systems is essential for climate and development outcomes.
Food and land use are uniquely positioned, posing both a challenge and an opportunity to combat climate change. A significant contributor to the climate crisis, food systems are also incredibly vulnerable to climate impacts. And yet food systems and broader land use also offer so far largely untapped potential for adaptation and mitigation.
Failure to harness this potential and take rapid, far-reaching action to radically transform our food systems food production and consumption alone risks pushing us beyond the 1.5°C temperature targetwith cascading impacts on food and nutrition security, as well as livelihoods and income generation.
What are “food systems”?
The term “food systems” has gained popularity in international processes and forums in recent years. However, some ambiguity remains as to the meaning of the expression.
Rejecting the idea that agriculture and food production can be explained as a single, linear system of production and consumption, the application of the food systems perspective takes a more holistic approach that takes into account people, policies and processes throughout the agri-food supply chain. It examines how these factors shape food production and consumption and intersect with other systems, such as climate, biodiversity, energy, infrastructure, finance, health, nutrition and development.
Why do we need to transform our food systems?
Food systems are essential to the livelihoods and economic development of billions of people around the world. This is particularly true in developing countries, where agriculture still forms the backbone of many economies and a significant share of GDP.
For example, food systems currently represent 62% of jobs in Africa. With the world population expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050building resilient food systems will be key to absorb around 1.6 billion people into the labor market in low- and middle-income countries in the coming years.
Resilient food systems are also vitally important to ensure food and nutrition security. After more than a decade of year-on-year decline in the prevalence of undernourishment, 2016 saw a reversal of this trend, climate change and conflict bringing the percentage of people in severe food insecurity to 9.3% of the world’s population. Fast forward to 2023, and this number increased to 11.3%.
Our food systems are a major driver of climate change and main driver of biodiversity loss.
THE Projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change paint a grim picture of declining productivity in existing areas of agricultural production, associated with declining food availability and nutritional quality, and increasing pressure on the ecosystem services on which global food systems depend.
Added to these challenges are the increasingly frequent (and increasingly serious) impacts of climate change and changing weather patterns. More than 36 million people in East Africa are currently affected by drought. As the soil becomes drier and its capacity to support crops and livestock diminishes, more and more smallholder farmers and their families find themselves facing hunger while their ability to grow crops food – or generating the income needed to buy it – is decreasing. . When it rains, the ground is too dry to absorb water, leading to severe flooding.
Recognizing the need to peak emissions before 2025 if we want to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees or less (and knowing that global temperatures will continue to rise until mid century even if all emissions are reduced immediately), it is imperative that we transform our food systems.
Without rapid action to rapidly decarbonize our food systems and build resilience to climate impacts, we will struggle to meet the triple challenges of reducing emissions, adapting to climate impacts and sustainably increasing production for meet the needs of a growing global population.
Where are we as COP28 approaches?
However, all is not lost. Political will for food systems transformation has increased, fueled by growing awareness of the importance of food systems in achieving climate and development goals and growing public interest in how and place of food production.
From the G7 to the G20, including the United Nations Climate Change Conference and the COP of the Convention on Biodiversity, food systems and agriculture are increasingly a topic of interest in the international summit cycle. The Hiroshima Declaration of Action for Resilient Global Food Securityendorsed by all G7 leaders (along with eight other heads of state and the European Union), highlights the importance of investing more in food systems to improve global access to safe, sustainable and nutritious food.
The Action Statement affirms support for increased investments in food systems, particularly by scaling up support for small and marginal farmers and building resilience to climate shocks through support for climate-smart agriculture , nature-based agroecological solutions and ecosystem-based approaches. food production.
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G20 leaders also recognized the need for greater research cooperation to develop climate-resilient crops, in line with Deccan High Level Principles on Food Security and Nutrition adopted by the G20 agriculture ministers. This sentiment was echoed by African heads of state at Nairobi Declarationadopted at the first African Climate Summit, highlighting the importance of climate resilient and restorative agricultural practices for food security and green growth on the continent.
Similar language is also reflected in the Political declaration adopted at the United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development Goals in New York in September and in the language of UN Secretary-General’s call to action for accelerated transformation of food systems at the time of the review of the United Nations Food Systems Summit.
The political will for the transformation of food systems is clearly growing. COP28 provides an opportunity for governments and non-state actors already championing this agenda to leverage this momentum to encourage less ambitious governments to act.
What do we need from COP28?
As a water-scarce country already facing the direct effects of climate impacts and climate change on agricultural production, the UAE has signaled its intention to use the COP28 presidency to elevate food systems in climate negotiations.
Below, we present priority negotiated and non-negotiated outcomes to help ensure that COP28 transforms emerging political will for food systems transformation into time-bound and measurable pathways for action, underpinned by adequate investments .
| Negotiated results | Non-negotiated results |
|---|---|
| 1. The emphasis within the Global assessment on the critical importance of transforming food systems to achieve the mitigation, adaptation, financing and loss and damage objectives of the Paris Agreement and on indicators specific to food systems in the contributions determined at the level national. | 1. Widespread commitment and commitment to Emirates Declaration on Resilient Food Systems, Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Actionparticularly in large agricultural producing economies, led by a dedicated coalition of highly ambitious countries to drive implementation. |
| 2. An agreed work plan for the Sharm el-Sheikh joint work on implementing climate action for agriculture and food securityincluding dedicated workshops on agroecology (and food systems as a whole) and a strong coordination structure to establish links within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as well as with funding opportunities . | 2. The FAO Global Roadmap to Reach 1.5°C and Sustainable Development Goals 2 Zero Hunger should set out an ambitious set of agri-food actions, as well as clear steps on issues such as reducing methane emissions. FAO should also clearly define the process and actors involved in developing future iterations of the post-Dubai roadmap. |
| 3. Recognition that food systems transformation is essential to achieving a global adaptation goal and the need to include food systems-specific targets and indicators in a global framework to measure progress under there Global Adaptation Goal. | 3. Strong commitment from parties and observers Focus on transforming food systems should not come at the expense of phasing out fossil fuels and recognize the interdependence of transformations in food and energy systems. |
One month before COP28, time is running out and the stakes are high. The case for transforming food systems and the need to translate political will into concrete actions and investments is clear, as are the consequences of inaction on food and nutrition security, biodiversity, livelihoods and economic development if we fail to recognize and exploit unique mitigation measures. and the adaptive potential of our food and land systems. COP28 must continue to direct action towards action.
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This article was originally published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and is republished here as part of an editorial collaboration with the IISD.
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own and not those of Impakter.com. — Featured photo credit: Wikimedia Commons.
