COP27: will it lead to positive change in the food system?

For the first time, “safeguarding food security and ending hunger” was included in the final deal reached at the UN’s Cop27 climate summit in Egypt.  Will this lead to the radical and rapid change to food systems that is needed if global heating is to be capped at 1.5 degrees?

While food and agriculture and their links to the climate crisis have had more attention at COP27 than at previous COPs, the final outcome of this enhanced focus has received a luke-warm reception. 

Despite lobbying by farmers and growers, many felt that the agenda at COP27 was dominated by agribusiness and that this led to a weakening of the final deal.  Others said that while industry experts put forward solutions to reduce food loss and waste, countries did little to propose dedicated funding. 

Below are links to overviews and in-depth reports on initiatives and outcomes of COP27.

Major food and agriculture initiatives discussed at COP 27:

• Agriculture Innovation Mission (AIM) for Climate
• Initiative on Climate Action and Nutrition (I-CAN)
• Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation (FAST)
• Climate Agreement for Food and Farming

Overviews of COP27 food and agriculture events and outcomes:

• Adapt or starve: COP27 spotlights agriculture challenges and solutions in the face of climate change | UN News
• COPing out: what can we take away from COP27’s Adaptation and Agriculture Day? | Sustain (sustainweb.org)
• COP27: A ‘notable disappointment’ for sustainable food systems (foodnavigator.com)
• COP27 week 2 – key outcomes from the final agreement – NFUonline
• Saturday, November 12Agriculture and Adaptation Day – Food and Agriculture Pavilion (cgiar.org)
• COP27 agreement highlights need to safeguard food security - Agriland.ie
• Enhanced consideration and implementation of elements related to agriculture (unfccc.int)
• COP27 closing reactions - Food Systems Pavilion.docx