By Joao Campari, Global Food Practice Leader, WWF
As we come to the end of another year that has broken many temperature records and seen devastating floods, fires and other extreme weather events across the world, climate action is more urgent than ever before. With the UN climate conference COP28 starting this week in Dubai, and more than 550 events on food and land use planned to take place, there is a clear message that agri-food systems transformation must be prioritised if we are to limit the impacts of global warming and adapt to climate change. There is a major opportunity at COP28 to create a fertile environment for action on food, on the ground and in the water. But if we are to unlock the true potential of food systems, decision makers at COP28 must align climate commitments with nature protection and restoration.
Food systems produce around a third of all greenhouse gas emissions while impacts of climate change, such as lost harvests and decreased nutritional density of crops, are contributing to recent increases in global hunger and malnutrition. Governments are recognising the urgency to both mitigate and adapt to climate change by transforming their food systems, with several country-led initiatives taking centre stage in Dubai: the Emirates Declaration on Resilient Food Systems, Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Action, a dedicated Food Day, and the Alliance of Champions for Food Systems Transformation among others.
But the fact is that, for too long, we have seen many commitments and agreements decoupled from meaningful and scalable actions on the ground. This must change. At COP28, I hope to see initiatives backed up by ambitious actions from policymakers, businesses and financiers. At WWF, we expect the success of COP28 from a food perspective to rest on five key results:
The vital role of food systems to address the climate crisis being recognised in the COP28 cover decision and outcomes of the first Global Stocktake
The inclusion of food systems approaches in Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Long-term Strategies
The new roadmap for the Sharm el-Sheikh Joint Work on Implementation of Climate Action on Agriculture and Food Security (SSJW) incorporating a food systems approach; i.e. production, food loss and waste, and the alignment of human and environmental health
Financial support for climate-resilient, nature-positive, and inclusive food systems being substantially enhanced
The phasing out of fossil fuels from food systems being prioritised in all global and national food-based climate action
If decisions made at COP28 deliver the five outcomes above, there will be fertile ground for national-level action to be delivered in landscapes, seascapes and riverscapes, especially those that are undergoing rapid conversion and degradation due to unsustainable food systems. But impact can only be delivered at the scale required if climate actions are integrated with nature restoration.
The most effective solutions will be integrated across the issues of nature, climate, and food and nutrition security, and involve collaboration across the UN Rio Conventions on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Biological Diversity (UNCBD) and Deforestation and Drought (UNCCD). As governments and national-level stakeholders consider how to update their NDCs, NAPs and Long-term Strategies they must also consider their commitments to the Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed at last year’s UN conference on biological diversity; and their plans to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality. Aligning these various policies, and connecting them with the levers that will deliver most impact in context-specific food systems, will close existing gaps in food systems transformation.
What’s more, alignment across policies will enable the development of an efficient and integrated ecosystem of support for the transformation we aspire to achieve in agri-food systems. While there will be unique implementation partners for certain programmes, integrated planning strips away unnecessary layers of confusion and competition among stakeholders who should be allies. Focusing on shared actions with benefits for people, nature and climate will deliver the biggest impacts in the shortest time.
The reality is that limiting global warming and restoring nature are scenes in the same story — that of building a healthy and sustainable future for everyone. Food systems transformation can be the theme that connects them and ensures there is a positive ending to the story. Applying food systems approaches, that cover production, consumption and loss and waste, requires countries to design and implement joint strategies for climate-friendly and nature-positive societies.
Even though we are increasingly feeling the real effects of climate change, COP28 comes at a time when there is great opportunity to generate momentum and shift from talk and commitments to action and implementation. Decisive and ambitious outcomes from COP28 can pave the way for even further integration and progress at next year’s biodiversity and desertification negotiations (UNCBD COP16 and UNCCD COP16). More importantly, it will send a signal to the rest of the world that it’s time to accelerate the urgently-needed transformation of food systems — for climate, nature and people.
