This analysis was brought to you by Sanaiya Batliwalla, ESG Associate Vice President and Kingshuk Deka, ESG Associate.
Discussions on day 11 at COP 28 focussed on the need to transform food systems for people, nature, and climate. In total, more than USD $7.1 billion has been deployed during COP28 for climate-positive action in the food system sector.
Key takeaways:
- Dignitaries engaged in discussions about the implementation strategies and opportunities arising from the COP28 UAE Declaration on Agriculture, Food Systems, and Climate Action, now endorsed by 152 countries. These countries have committed to include food and land use targets in their national climate plans by 2025 and report on their progress annually.
- The Alliance of Champions for Food Systems Transformation was jointly introduced by Brazil, Cambodia, Norway, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone. This coalition is aimed at reducing the vulnerability of agri-business, improving outcomes, and sharing lessons on developing accessible and sustainable diets for all.
- Over 30 nations signed up for the Freshwater Challenge with an objective of rehabilitating more than 300,000 km of rivers and 350 million hectares of wetlands by 2030, which roughly constitute 30% of the Earth's degraded freshwater ecosystems.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (“FAO”) unveiled its ambitious new roadmap to achieve zero hunger (SGD 2) without breaching the 1.5oC threshold. The roadmap identifies “ten pivotal domains”, including food loss and waste, regenerative agriculture, nutritional security, and clean energy, amongst others. The proposed goals for reducing emissions as outlined in the roadmap include a 25% reduction in methane emissions by 2030, achieving carbon neutrality by 2035, and establishing a carbon sink by 2050. However, the FAO has also warned about a shortfall in climate funding, calling for the preparation of additional funds.
As the emphasis on small-scale farmers in climate funding discussions grew, so did the momentum for advocating dietary shifts and changes in consumption patterns. However, like many others, we feel the masses of meat lobbyists and industrial agriculture giants present at the conference present a threat to these efforts.
Undoubtedly, our global food system stands as a major contributor to climate change, whilst simultaneously being highly susceptible to its impacts. A third of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to agriculture and food systems. Carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane gases are emitted during its life cycle; during cultivation, processing, transport, consumption, and disposal. It is noteworthy that COP28 has brought to light the importance of climate resilience in food systems; something that previous COP discussions did not sufficiently acknowledge.
Country-specific challenges, including declining food yields, increasing water and nutritional insecurities, diminishing forest cover for arable land, and reliance on traditional meat-centric diets, likely contribute to a quarter of signatories opting not to support the UAE Declaration.
For the landmark ‘Food, Agriculture, and Water Day’ discussions to be fruitful, it is crucial that decision makers engage with front-line workers and farming communities and deploy investments in regenerative and climate-smart agricultural techniques. Other supporting initiatives can include policies facilitating sustainable food production and dietary shifts which could help curtail emissions and encourage responsible citizenship.
