‘Food is finally on the table’: Cop28 addressed agriculture in a real way | Cop28 | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/17/cop28-sustainable-agriculture-food-greenhouse-gasesThe conference opened with a declaration on sustainable agriculture signed by more than 130 countries. For the first time ever, it featured a whole day devoted to food and agriculture and saw a food systems road map laid out by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Perhaps most strikingly, the final agreement document that was revealed at the end of the conference acknowledged sustainable agriculture as a part of responding appropriately to climate change
“Countries must put food systems and agriculture at the heart of their climate ambitions, addressing both global emissions and protecting the lives and livelihoods of farmers living on the front line of climate change,” said Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, the UAE minister of climate change and environment and the Cop28 food systems lead.
Next, the FAO unveiled its new road map meant to outline the pathway required to bring the world’s food production in line with global climate goals, in something of a parallel to the road map the International Energy Agency laid out for the energy transition in 2021. The FAO pathway emphasizes cutting methane emissions from livestock by 25% and halving food waste emissions by 2030, and recommends growing a more biodiverse range of crops than the world currently relies on