Global problems in the world

3. FOOD SYSTEMS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
2022 was arguably food and agriculture’s breakout year on the climate scene. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine launched food security to the top of the geopolitical agenda. Already, food and agriculture were gaining prominence on the international climate agenda, building on momentum and awareness created by the UN Secretary-General’s Food Systems Summit in 2021.
With food systems generating up to a third of all greenhouse gas emissions, food and agriculture’s new position as a primary climate concern was evident everywhere at COP 27. Not only did agriculture make it onto the list of thematic days for the first time, but the number of COP pavilions with all-day programming on food and agriculture issues jumped from zero to five. Several major international food and agriculture initiatives, such as the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate), the Egyptian presidency’s Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation Initiative (FAST) initiative, and the US-led Global Fertilizer Challenge, were established or strengthened at COP 27. And agriculture was one of the headline issues called out in the Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan, with the establishment of a four-year joint work plan to ensure that food and agriculture remain on the international climate agenda in the coming years.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR IN 2023
"There will be many opportunities to make further progress on food, agriculture, and climate in the year ahead — thanks to the newfound prominence on the global climate agenda."
Lasse Bruun, Climate and Food Director; Ryan Hobert, Managing Director for Climate and Environment; and Evelin Tóth, Senior Analyst for Climate Policy and Research, UN Foundation
In 2023 countries and other partners will consolidate and expand recent gains in agricultural innovation to address climate resilience and mitigation, including for smallholder farmers and in the realm of agroecology. For the first time, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization announced that it will develop a plan by COP 28 to reduce emissions from food and agriculture systems in line with the goal of keeping temperatures from rising above 1.5°C. The AIM for Climate initiative, led by the United States and the United Arab Emirates, and of which the UN Foundation is a partner, will hold a major summit in Washington, D.C., in May, and the initiative’s work is expected to be prominently featured at COP 28 given that the UAE is the host.
Hundreds of mangrove seedlings are growing in a small bay of an island south of Fiji's main island Viti Levu. Fiji's government sponsors several mangrove reforestation initiatives throughout the country to combat eroding coastlines and restore mangrove forests where they have been cut down due to coastal development. Photo: Tom Vierus