Over 100 countries have signed a declaration pledging the transformation of food systems for climate change.
The five-page Cop28 UAE Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action highlights the critical role of agriculture in causing and addressing climate change. It also raises awareness of the serious risk to the availability of food, especially for vulnerable communities.
The declaration took place on the second day of the UN climate conference, at which King Charles was present.
It includes commitments to adopt adaptation measures to improve food resilience for farmers and fisherfolk, to improve social inclusion and to ensure decent work in food and farming (including for women and young people).
However, concerns have been raised about the influence of the meat industry, whose lobbying reportedly includes efforts to create “positive livestock content” at Cop28 – with The Guardian newspaper’s revelations that the meat industry has been seeking to present meat as ‘sustainable nutrition’.
Subscribe to Sustainability Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest sustainability news sent straight to your inbox everyday
WWF executive director of advocacy and campaigns Kate Norgrave said: “Getting so many countries to support the COP28 Declaration on food systems and climate action is a positive step forward”.
“Our current food system accounts for 30% of climate emissions and 60% of biodiversity loss so we can’t tackle climate change without transforming the way we produce and consume food.”
“WWF stands ready to work together with farmers, producers, retailers, financial institutions, and politicians to turn these high-level plans into workable solutions.”
Sustain climate and nature emergency co-ordinator Ruth Westcott added: “It’s great to see world leaders acknowledging that we have no hope of avoiding catastrophic climate change unless we transform the food we eat and how we farm, but the declaration doesn’t contain any legally-binding targets.”
“For wealthier countries such as the UK, significant reductions in the production and consumption of meat and dairy and tackling food waste need to be part of our national climate commitments.”
The declaration comes as a new report from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit have contributed to increasing food costs by £600.
