The Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hosted the COP 28 on 30 November- 12 December 2023. This year's was heralded with a number of firsts; Apart from the Loss and Damage Fund that was introduced at COP27 received the initial USD 400 million to support the poorest and most vulnerable countries cope with climate-related impacts-was seen as a breakthrough despite the trillions of dollars in climate damages.
From the food systems perspective, there was a record 500 + side events around food systems alongside hosting its first COP Food Day. Over 150 countries have endorsed the Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action was signed by 130+ signatories
We have also seen the formation of the new Dairy Methane Action Alliance led by Danone, Bel Group, General Mills, Lactalis USA, Kraft Heinz and Nestle - which will begin reporting their methane emissions by mid-2024 and will write methane action plans by the end of that year. Cutting human-caused methane by 45% this decade would keep global warming under 2 degrees Celsius, according to a 2021 assessment by the Climate & Clean Air Coalition and the United Nations Environment Programme.
- Global Stocktake update - In short, some progress but not enough - agriculture and food are mentioned in the new draft, but the language is still nowhere near ambitious enough, and it's insufficient to elevate food systems transformation as a key lever for climate mitigation and adaptation. Sustainable agriculture is mentioned under adaptation, but there's still no reference to food system, meaning consumption and food loss and waste (critical parts of the solution to the food-climate puzzle) are at risk of being overlooked. WWF is suggesting the addition of new paragraphs in the mitigation section of the GST, and strengthening of the text in the adaptation section.
Related Resources
- Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action.
- Achieving SDG 2 without breaching 1.5C degrees threshold: A Global Roadmap (FAO)
- Reducing Food Loss and Waste: A Roadmap for Philanthropy (ReFED, WRAP and other partners)
- COP 28 Agriculture, Food and Climate National Action Toolkit
- Op-Ed: Mission-driven Food Companies aren't waiting to act on Climate (Forbes)
- Op-Ed : Climate and Nutrition Can Longer Be Ships That Pass in the Night (Food Tank)
- The Climate Summit Starts to Crack a Tough Nut: Emissions From Food (New York Times)
- What's Cooking : An assessment of potential impacts of selected novel alternatives to conventional animal products (UNEP)
- State of Food Security and Nutrition 2023: Urbanisation, Agri-food Systems Transformation and Healthy Diets across the Rural- Urban Continuum (FAO)
- State of Food and Agriculture 2023 : Revealing the True Cost of Food to Transform Agrifood Systems (FAO)
- Food’s Climate Funding Tops $7 Billion During COP28 (Bloomberg)
- Harvesting Resilience: Leveraging Finance for Food Security and Climate Resilience (First Abu Dhabi Bank, KPMG and Islamic Trade Finance Corporation)
- Supermarket essentials will no longer be linked to illegal deforestation (UK Government)
- Podcast: Food Systems for the Future Live from COP 28 ft. Lawrence Haddad on Climate and Nutrition