Food Systems Still Missing in Action: Reflections from COP29

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Food systems Pavilion

Written by Alexandra Gimblett, PhD student with SCENARIO DTP, University of Surrey. 

 

 

Going into the Food, Agriculture and Water Day (19th November 2024) at COP29 I was excited to see the developments of the ‘Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action’. This declaration was endorsed by 152 countries by the final day of COP28, which coincidentally was the first ever day dedicated to food, agriculture and water at any COP. Ani Dasgupta, President & CEO of World Resources Institute stated, ‘All countries must leave COP28 with a commitment to incorporate food and food systems fully into their next round of NDCs and arrive at COP29 and COP30 with real progress in hand’ (1). This suggested that there would be at least small strides towards more sustainable food systems by COP29.

However, as the COP29 Food, Agriculture and Water Day comes to a close I am feeling a sense of unfulfillment. There has been little mention of food systems and any plans to make these more sustainable. The only major outcome of the day related to food systems is the ‘Reducing Methane from Organic Waste Declaration’ which was signed by 30 countries. These countries represent 47% of the methane emissions from organic waste globally (2). Only recently have investigations into methane emissions from food waste been conducted. One 2023 report found that 55 million metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent methane was released from food waste in American landfills in 2020 (3). This is the equivalent of 15 coal-fired power plants (3). With that in mind, this deceleration can help reduce emissions from the final step of food systems, waste disposal and management, thus transitioning this part of the network into a more well managed and sustainable practice.

While reducing methane emissions is key for lessening global warming and climate change, it is interesting that a COP hosted in a petrostate pushes the need to reduce methane emissions rather than fossil fuels. Nearly half of Azerbaijan’s GDP and over 90% of its export revenue are from oil and gas (4). Therefore, it is easy to assume that Azerbaijan may want to suggest discussions surrounding methane rather than fossil fuels. In fact, within the ‘action agenda’ of global initiatives and pledges that Azerbaijan submitted before COP29 the issue of cutting methane emissions from organic waste was mentioned, but it did not mention plans to end fossil fuel use (5). Nevertheless, the waste step of food systems needs to be altered to move towards more sustainable food systems, so this declaration is still a step in the right direction.

Alongside this deceleration, there were a few side events trying to maintain the discussion surrounding the transition to more sustainable food systems. One such side event, ‘Building Climate Resilient Food Systems Through Global Partnerships’, highlighted the importance of transitioning these systems to allow for nutritious food and food security for all. In particular, Maphakamile Xingwana, the Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, for the kingdom of Lesotho, spoke passionately about the actions Lesotho had made toward more sustainable food systems and the challenges faced in this process. The key objectives of their efforts were to develop food systems with a clear vision to increase their climate resilience, ensure sustainable development of food systems, and develop road maps for implementation to make the transition of food systems as easy to execute as possible. The country has already held several workshops with key stakeholders to try and achieve these objectives.

Despite these efforts, Lesotho has faced several challenges with its current food systems, and difficulties when trying to transition to more sustainable ones. For example, there are poor transportation and storage facilities which makes access to nutritious food for every community difficult. Moreover, recent extreme weather events, as a result of climate change, have devastated market infrastructure further jeopardising communities’ access to food and their food security. Maphakamile Xingwana emphasized the pivotal role the Commonwealth and the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub have played in resource mobilisation and funding to help develop Lesotho’s food systems. However, even with this funding, she noted that the limited amount of money available to the kingdom of Lesotho had stalled efforts to make their food systems more sustainable and climate resilient, thus shedding light on why climate finance is vital for developing countries.

COP29 has been widely referred to as the ‘Finance COP’ with key negotiations being discussed surrounding the amount of money developed countries agree to offer towards developing countries to help with climate related issues. This funding, including ‘Loss and Damage’ funding, aims to help with adapting communities to climate change, developing more sustainable practices and helping combat and rebuild from extreme climate-related weather events. Furthermore, the Alliance of Champions for Food Systems Transformation (ACF) also mentioned the importance of financial support for developing more sustainable food systems when they reconvened today at the Food, Agriculture and Water Day. Consequently, it may not be a surprise that this COP has not focused on food systems as much as expected and even within events related to food systems there is more of a focus on climate finance.

There are expected to be more discussions regarding food systems at COP30 in Brazil as agriculture is one of the principal bases of Brazil’s economy (6). Additionally, the two-year partnership launched under the UNFCCC at COP28 which aims to help countries incorporate food and water into their NDCs is expected to be reviewed (7).

Though COP29 fell short of expectations for food systems reform, the small strides made provide a foundation for meaningful action at COP30 in Brazil.

 

References

  1. 2023. STATEMENT: 134 Countries Sign the Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture and Put Food High on the Climate Agenda at COP28.
  2. Mills R. 2024. COP29 Brings Historic Commitments to Reduce Methane from Organic Waste. RMI. https://rmi.org/cop29-brings-historic-commitments-to-reduce-methane-from-organic-waste/. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  3. Lauria M. 2024. The connection between food waste, methane, and climate change. one5c. https://one5c.com/food-waste-methane-136935965/. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  4. Schlanger Z. 2024. A Tiny Petrostate Is Running the World’s Climate Talks. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2024/11/cop29-azerbaijan/680537/. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  5. Bryan K. 2024. COP29 host skips over fossil fuels to waste methane and energy storage. Financial Times.
  6. Topic: Agriculture in Brazil. Statista. https://www.statista.com/topics/5838/agriculture-in-brazil/. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  7. COP28’s Food, Agriculture and Water Day secures major commitments to address climate impacts and keep 1.5C within reach. https://www.cop28.com/en/news/2023/12/COP28-Food-griculture-and-Water-Day. Retrieved 22 November 2024.