Unite, Act, Deliver.  Let’s act now.  Let’s think without limits.  If you could send a message to future generations about the world you want to leave them, what would it say? 

Such was the messaging throughout the Expo City site in Dubai at COP28 earlier this month, and the action imperative was clear.

And more deeply: The choices we make today will determine humanity’s future for generations to come…What is your vision for a more sustainable future, and how can you contribute in this decisive decade?

COP28 is now in the books, with much debate, as always, about the process and its impact – and this year, with much focus on the dropping of the term “phaseout” for “transitioning away” from fossil fuels in energy systems – and the subsequent framing of “the beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era.

Along with energy systems, food was also on the COP28 agenda – and my main focus was on the connection between food systems and climate change.  I sought to amplify that connection, specifically the need to sharply cut food loss and waste to reduce emissions as well as rapidly transition to a sustainable, regenerative, equitable food system to accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

I attended 28 impactful sessions on food, climate, and SDG topics over five full days on the ground at COP28, intent on learning as much as possible from the experiences of participants from around the globe while also contributing to many food system-related conversations. 

The many interactions were rich, and while there are dozens of keywords that I could use to describe my numerous takeaways from this year’s session, after several days of reflection I’ll distill them to four: Food, Climate, Inspiration, Urgency.

Food Grows on the COP Agenda

Building on last year’s debut, the food system, and more specifically the need for food system transformation, gained considerable traction at COP28 – and deservedly so.

This year’s event included a robust Food Systems Pavilion featuring dozens of sessions over ten theme-focused days with farmers and frontline changemakers, entrepreneurs, and representatives from NGOs, food businesses, and philanthropies.  Sessions addressed key topics such as regenerative agriculture, climate finance, gender and equity issues, healthy diets, nutrition and food security, water security, soil health, climate resilience, empowering women smallholder farmers, innovation, adaptation, food loss and waste reduction, circular food systems, protein diversification, and more – all under the larger frame of rapidly moving toward an equitable, nature-positive, climate resilient food system in a just fashion.

Notably, the Food Systems Pavilion team also produced a strong list of policy recommendations (Food Systems Pavilion Policy Asks for COP28) citing the importance of taking a holistic approach to food systems to support climate mitigation and adaptation efforts while also ensuring global food security. 

The document stressed the need to transform food systems to reach net zero emissions by 2050 in order to stay within the 1.5°C global warming limit, calling for numerous actions such as:

  • halting deforestation (and reversing forest loss) by 2030
  • reducing CO2 emissions from land use change to zero by 2030
  • shifting to regenerative, low-carbon agricultural systems
  • setting ambitious government reform agendas with multi-sector participation to transform food systems
  • rapidly scaling the proportion of climate finance to food systems
  • repurposing billions in annual agricultural subsidies to sustainable and equitable food production 

Further, COP28 provided many significant developments regarding the importance of food system transformation globally. 

To start, the UAE and the Gates Foundation announced a $200 million partnership for Food Systems, Agriculture Innovation and Climate Action with a focus on agricultural research and innovation.

In addition, over 150 nations signed the Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action, which recognized that “unprecedented adverse climate impacts are increasingly threatening the resilience of agriculture and food systems” along with the ability of many countries (including the most vulnerable) to produce and access sufficient food in a world of increasing hunger, malnutrition, and economic stress. 

The Declaration emphasized the need to ensure access to sufficient and affordable nutritious food for all while also stressing that “any path to fully achieving the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement must include agriculture and food systems” and affirming that “agriculture and food systems must urgently adapt and transform in order to respond to the imperatives of climate change.”  Supporting countries agreed to work “collaboratively and expeditiously” on several related objectives, including “scaling up adaptation and resilience activities” to reduce the vulnerability of farmers and food producers to the impacts of climate change and “containing and reducing harmful impacts” associated with agrifood systems. 

Complementing the Emirates Declaration, a coalition of 200 non-state actors from sectors including farming, business, philanthropy and cities signed a Call to Action for Transforming Food Systems for People, Nature and Climate.  The group seeks to make agrifood systems a key solution for climate, nature, and food crises (rather than a leading driver of them) – and is calling for time-bound, aligned global targets and “actionable, evidence-based, locally appropriate food systems transition pathways” to drive the needed transformation.

Five countries (Brazil, Cambodia, Norway, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone) launched the Alliance of Champions for Food Systems Transformation (ACF) – a coalition focused on a “whole of government” approach to speed food system transformation across five themes – food and nutrition security, adaptation and resilience, equity and livelihoods, nature and biodiversity, and climate mitigation.  Alliance members commit to act and report on ten priority intervention areas.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO), along with other leading NGO partners, released the COP28 Food, Agriculture, and Climate National Toolkit, a resource designed to help national policymakers accelerate action on food system transformation and climate action and build appropriate strategies into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). 

The Toolkit advises policymakers to address structural inequities in food systems, leverage public and private finance for climate actions in food systems, ensure an equitable, inclusive, and just transition by accounting for the true costs and benefits of food systems, shift to nature-positive food production, reduce and repurpose food loss and waste, and transition to nutritious and healthy diets.  The Toolkit also provides numerous examples of good practices from countries around the world.

Further, UNFAO released a new report focusing on the direct connection between livestock agrifood systems and climate: Pathways towards lower emissions: A global assessment of the greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation options from livestock agrifood systems.  This report quantifies emissions from global livestock systems and, recognizing the projected 20% increase in demand for animal products by 2050 (versus 2020), explores pathways for mitigating those emissions while meeting anticipated human consumption – a necessary balance to meet the challenge of sustainably feeding an additional two billion citizens by 2050.

This COP also included the launch of the COP28 Action Agenda on Regenerative Landscapes, an initiative focused on accelerating actions and commitments to “transition large agricultural landscapes to regenerative landscapes by 2030.”   

Last, and significantly, UNFAO released a global roadmap for achieving food security within the 1.5°C limit (Achieving SDG2 without breaching the 1.5C threshold: A Global Roadmap (How Agrifood Systems Transformation Through Accelerated Climate Actions Will Help Achieving Food Security and Nutrition, Today and Tomorrow). 

The roadmap builds on the work of the prior Food System Summits and includes a three-year plan for transforming agrifood systems to simultaneously meet food security, nutrition, and climate change needs.  The anchoring principle for the roadmap is a Just Transition – inclusive decarbonization that leaves no one behind – with 120 targeted action points over ten domains:  livestock, fisheries and aquaculture, crops, enabling healthy diets for all, forest and wetlands, soil and water, food loss and waste, clean energy, inclusive policies, and data.

The second part of the roadmap, involving the move to a regional focus and incorporating finance to prioritize actions, will be released at COP29, while the third phase (to be released at COP30) will establish country-level action plans and cover monitoring and accountability.

Despite all of these positive notes, one big “miss” on the food side at COP28 involved the lack of inclusion of language on food systems transformation and its linkage to climate mitigation and adaptation in the global stocktake document – and that is a significant miss.

Overall, however, this COP showed that there is clear, and increasing, recognition of the need to accelerate food system transformation as part of the larger climate conversation and to incorporate such initiatives into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Amplifying the Food-to-Climate Connection

At this critical juncture for humanity, COP28 also provided the opportunity to further cement the connection between food systems and climate change, including the criticality of food waste reduction.

After all, the global food system accounts for over one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, while  30-40% of annual food production is lost or wasted.  The UNFAO previously noted that if ranked as a country, food wastage would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions behind the U.S. and China.  And more recently, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) found that food loss and waste accounts for 10% of global emissions.

So reducing food loss and waste really matters, especially due to the fact that decaying food in landfills produces methane – which has far greater warming potential than CO2.

Further, in the above mentioned COP28 Action Toolkit, WWF and co-authors stated that “even if all non-food greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were immediately stopped and were net zero from 2020 to 2100, emissions from food systems would still cause exceeding the 1.5°C limit between 2051 and 2063.” 

So food systems are an essential component of global efforts to rein in global warming.

I explored the connection between food systems and climate at COP28 with a key group of food system leaders – Sara Roversi of the Future Food Institute, Danielle Nierenberg of Food Tank, Craig Hanson of the World Resources Institute, and Paul Newnham of the SDG2 Advocacy Hub. 

In our session, entitled The Connection Between Food Waste and Climate Change, and the Need (and Opportunities) for Change, we began by noting the impact of the food system (and food loss and waste alone) on global emissions.  We also highlighted that the world is currently losing and wasting up to 40% of annual food production, making food loss and waste a critical lever for addressing climate change.

We noted the central and critical nature of food in our lives and the tight linkage between the food system and the Sustainable Development Goals, making food loss and waste reduction a critical nexus issue which provides the opportunity to advance progress against multiple sustainability goals (food security, water security, soil degradation, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and more) simultaneously.

And we addressed the need to move bigger and faster on food loss and waste reduction, exploring ways to accelerate impact and drawing on the vast experience of the panelists in discussing ways to inspire change leaders and advance greater global collaboration. 

We made this session personal, beginning with how the scope and scale of the global food waste challenge resonates with each of these leaders, and leading into how they are addressing it through their organizations.  We also covered how they are working to overcome barriers and increase the pace and scale of impact, along with ways they are expanding the ecosystem and creating change leaders.  We closed with a review of takeaways and suggestions for how to move from incremental to transformational action on food waste reduction.

Our wide-ranging discussion covered several themes, including the importance of:

  • continued awareness raising and educational efforts on the scale and impact of global food loss and waste
  • properly valuing food, and overcoming the developed world culture of abundance in which food is viewed as relatively inexpensive (and easily wasted)
  • making food waste visible, and engaging consumers through the connection to water, emissions, hunger, and health
  • elevating the concept of true cost accounting for food
  • creating solutions-focused energy among youth through living/learning labs and hackathons
  • continuing to make the business case for food waste reduction, and advancing measurement-focused solutions in support of the Target-Measure-Act approach
  • raising expectations of food organizations to reduce waste as part of net zero goals, and pushing food waste reduction initiatives through supply chains
  • increasing the use of social norming campaigns on food waste reduction
  • thinking big, nudging change at every level (consumer, business, education, and government) and continuing to drive global collaboration efforts
  • elevating the moral case for food loss and waste reduction

Sara Roversi also provided an excellent example for audience members on how they can drive big change, describing her collaborative work leading to the creation of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (IDAFLW) on the UN calendar.

Overall, our session clearly made the connection between food waste and climate change while providing inspiration and takeaways for change-focused audience members to consider.

Harnessing Points of Inspiration

COP events provide a deluge of signals of the need for action on climate change, food systems, and numerous social and environmental issues underlying the SDGs. 

Observing everything from the passion of the youth activists and indigenous peoples calling for change, to stories of smallholder farmers striving to adapt to the impacts of climate change, to the sight of weary negotiators returning to their hotel at 4 AM yet ready to go back and reconvene just hours later, it’s impossible not to be energized by the commitment of so many well-intentioned stakeholders to driving positive social and environmental change – and to embrace the UN’s messaging of “mission possible” and “the power of one.”

There were, of course, many data points covered at COP28 that can serve to inspire individuals to lead change for sustainable food systems, a few of which include: 

  • Food systems account for more than a third of global emissions
  • Food systems account for roughly 15% of global fossil fuels use annually
  • Livestock agrifood systems account for 12% of annual GHG emissions
  • The hidden costs of food systems amount to 12.7 trillion dollars (about 10% of global GDP)
  • Net global GHG emissions must decline by 43% by 2030 (from 2019) to maintain the 1.5°C pathway
  • Nearly half of the world’s population lives in climate vulnerable hotspots

But beyond the many compelling data points, the comments and stories gleaned from engagement with other stakeholders – the human side – can feel even more inspiring.  Some comments that struck a chord with me from other participants included:  

On the subject of food system change, one individual succinctly addressed the disconnect between excessive food waste and global hunger, noting “it’s absurd that we produce enough food to feed the planet, but we don’t.”  Adding to the absurdity of that disconnect is the staggering environmental cost of that wasted food.

In a session on circular food systems, Jacqueline Amongine of Uganda’s Parliament candidly stated that starvation is still a big issue in Africa – a powerful reminder of the severity of global hunger which made things very real for those in the room at that moment.

On financing, Geeta Sethi of the World Bank pointed to another important disconnect, noting that the food system gets 4% of climate finance but emits 30% of global emissions, appropriately adding “that’s not making sense.”

On farming, a panelist addressed the need for additional government support for farmers in Africa, noting that there are $800 billion in agricultural subsidies around the world, but “that’s not happening in Africa.”

On the importance of “smallholder” farms, an individual on the frontlines in Gambia noted “we’re not small, we’re the biggest employer in the world” and “the food that we produce should not be considered small.” 

Another individual stated that many good things are happening in the agrifood sector in Africa, but they are “small and scattered” and need to be consolidated.  It was a perfect framing for all of the sustainability challenges being addressed at COP28 – how do we go from small and scattered to large and united?

In a session on the role of youth in smallholder agriculture, a panelist highlighted the disconnect between scientific research and smallholder farmers – noting that information is not effectively getting to smallholder farms and calling for education for smallholder farmers on specific crops so that they can become more resistant to climate change.  He pointed to the impacts of climate change – increased rainfall, increased rainfall intensity, and higher temperatures – stating that “it’s very difficult to adapt to these conditions.”  His comments reinforced the need for effective knowledge transfer to farmers in developing countries who are already battling the effects of climate change.

Reflecting the concerns of indigenous people on adaptation and mitigation issues, another individual asked: How can indigenous people get enough coverage if developed countries aren’t sufficiently focused on emissions reduction at home?  It’s a great question.

And in a session on nature-positive solutions for climate change, Johan Rockstrom pointed to the recent Global Tipping Points report, noting that “we are in deep red on biodiversity and other biosphere boundaries” and “there is no 1.5°C pathway unless we invest in Nature.”

Urgency: The Need for Speed                

We all understand the urgency imperative.  The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has stated that 2023 will be the warmest year on record and that the past nine years (2015 to 2023) were the warmest on record.  At the same time, over 700 million global citizens are hungry and over 2 billion are experiencing some level of food insecurity per the UNFAO’s reporting.  And climate change and nature loss threaten to cause tipping points in natural systems with devastating consequences.  

The data, the comments from speakers, and the stories and experiences shared among participants all reinforced the central challenge of COP28: the nations of the world need to act much faster on emissions reduction to rein in global warming. 

Further, and related, we must move faster on transforming agrifood systems to meet food security and nutrition goals and other SDG Targets while reducing emissions and minimizing additional environmental externalities.  In other words, we need to quickly transition to a sustainable, regenerative, equitable food system to feed two billion additional citizens by 2050 within planetary boundaries.

Indeed, the most consistent theme from all of the sessions that I attended at COP28 was that we are making progress, but we need to move faster. 

Food, Climate, Inspiration, Urgency.  These were my main keywords from my time at COP28.

And to this short list I could easily add several more:  Water, Energy, Hunger, Nutrition, Biodiversity, Nature-positive, Regenerative, Oceans, Collaboration, Equity, Tipping Points, Just transition, Ambition, Action, Partnerships, Caring, Will. 

I encountered them all throughout my deep dive into multiple sessions at COP28.

And they all funnel to one more keyword for all of us:  Leadership. 

The climate, food, and nature challenges we face are enormous, and the consequences of inaction – or slow action – are severe.

We need leadership at all levels of society to address these linked challenges with the urgency they deserve.

So as we move forward from COP28, I think the ultimate takeaways for each of us remain:

How can we move deeper and faster, faster, faster on climate change and food system transformation?

And how can each of us contribute to leading the needed change?