A dairy farm in New Zealand’s Waikato region on October 11, 2022. The country has unveiled plans to tax greenhouse gas emissions from livestock. WILLIAM WEST/AFP
At every Conference of the Parties (COP) on climate change, criticism comes from NGOs, scientists and even international institutions: agriculture and food are relegated to the background in official debates, even though the sector accounts for a third of greenhouse gas emissions from human origin and agricultural producers are among the population groups most directly affected by climate change.
The agricultural sector is both victim and actor of global warming and a key lever to hope that the Paris Agreement target of not exceeding +2°C compared to the pre-industrial era will be met. But far from the attention that transport or energy sectors receive, food has so far only been addressed on the sidelines of institutional climate discussions, at side events, or as a detour to debates on other issues.
Egypt, which will host the 27th COP in Sharm El-Sheikh from November 6-18, wants to change the situation. As the voice of African countries particularly affected by issues of agricultural resilience and adaptation, the host country particularly hopes for financial commitments from the nations of the North on these issues. On November 12, agriculture will have its first day on the official agenda of the COP, and on November 7 there will be a round table with high-level political representatives. The war in Ukraine has gone through this, highlighting the imbalances in global food systems that are based on strong interdependencies. This year, agricultural crops have also suffered from extreme drought phenomena in both southern and northern countries and devastating floods in Pakistan and Nigeria.
Potentially harmful effects
For many observers, the climate negotiations were a missed opportunity to address these issues. In a report published on October 24, a coalition of private foundations, the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, concludes that only 3% of public climate finance goes to agriculture and food systems, which falls short of the sector’s weight . The states themselves underestimate the importance of the sector. Among developed countries, the majority (62%) do not present any measures related to food systems in their “Nationally Determined Contributions” (NDC), the national commitments that will be made by 2030. In the case of developing countries, only 4% of their financial needs are quantified in their engagement aimed at the transformation and resilience of food systems.
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