2023-12-01 20:24:12
In Dubai, during COP28, December 1, 2023. THOMAS MUKOYA/REUTERS
This year, the UAE presidency wants to make agriculture a central subject of high mass on the climate. From the second day of the 28th world climate conference (COP28), Friday December 1, the host state had 134 countries – including China, Brazil, the United States and the twenty-seven members of the European Union – a commitment to include agriculture and food in their climate plans by 2025. Negotiated for a year, this Emirates Declaration for Resilient Food Systems sets the tone: after having long been relegated to margin of the negotiations, agriculture is, this time, presented as a key sector of climate action.
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Food production is one of the sectors most weakened by the effects of climate change, which threaten food security and increase hunger figures, while being responsible for this same disruption, since it represents around a third of greenhouse gas emissions of anthropogenic origin. And yet, studies showed in 2022 that only 3% of public climate funding was devoted to food.
The majority of developed countries (62%) do not present any food systems-related measures in their “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs), the roadmaps that detail national climate commitments. Furthermore, only 4% of the financial needs identified by developing countries are intended for the transformation of their food systems.
This is what the Emirati declaration intends to change, by affirming that “all paths to achieving the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement must include agriculture and food systems”. This text is not legally binding but, by signing it, the heads of state undertake to update, by the end of 2025, their NDCs for 2030, their adaptation plans and their strategies for biodiversity, in order to to integrate food system transition measures.
Vagueness and ambiguities
A progress report must be carried out at the end of 2024, during COP29. “The follow-up proposal is the relevant element of this initiative, while we still see too many declarations not materializing”underlines Marie Cosquer, analyst from the NGO Action Against Hunger, who also welcomes the fact that the text poses the “right to food” as the framework for any action on food systems.
If the general intention of this declaration is almost unanimously welcomed, experts and non-governmental organizations are nevertheless concerned about the vagueness of the proposals and the ambiguities of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the agricultural transition model promoted through this text. “It’s encouraging to see that food systems are finally finding their place at the heart of climate negotiations, and at the highest level of governmentobserves Lim Li Ching, co-chair of the IPES-Food panel of experts on sustainable food systems. But while this is an essential first step, the language remains very vague, and the text lacks concrete actions and quantifiable objectives. »
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