The United Nations has said that reforming the world’s food systems will be a key step in limiting global temperature rises, as it set out the first instalment of a roadmap for providing food and farming while staying within 1.5C.
Food production is highly vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis, with research suggesting that as much as a third of global food could be at risk from global heating.
Available data shows that agriculture and livestock farming are also major sources of greenhouse gas emissions, contributing roughly a 10th of global carbon output directly, and more than double that if the conversion of natural habitat to farming is included.
The UN has- till now- held back from setting out in detail how the world can both meet the nutritional needs of a growing population, which is forecast to reach 10 billion by 2050, and reduce global greenhouse gases to net zero by the same date. The latter is required to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.
Maximo Torero, who is the chief economist for the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), told the Guardian: “We need to act to reduce hunger, and to stay within 1.5C. This is about rebalancing global food systems.”
He was quoted as saying that in some parts of the world there was over-consumption of protein, but in other regions people did not get enough protein. Some regions could benefit from using less chemical fertiliser, but other areas were not using enough. In some regions, livestock rearing should be intensified, but in others the focus should be on restoring degraded pasture land.
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Available report shows that the roadmap will be laid out over the next two to three years, starting with a document published at Cop28 in Dubai that contains 20 key targets to be met between 2025 and 2050, but little detail on how they can be met. Further detail on how the aspirations can be achieved will be set out in future instalments at the next two Cop summits.
The targets include: reducing methane emissions from livestock by 25% by 2030; ensuring all the world’s fisheries are sustainably managed by 2030; safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030; halving food waste by 2030; eliminating the use of traditional biomass for cooking by 2030.
Torero said that the plan would not include calls for a meat tax, which some experts have advocated, but would examine measures to tax sugar, salt and super-processed foods, and better food labelling.
He added that more climate finance should be devoted to agriculture, which accounts for only about 4% of climate finance today. He also called for much more efficient use of agricultural land and resources.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
