Food Security high on the COP27 Agenda

There are just over 100 days to go before the start of COP27, which will be hosted by Egypt between 6-18 November 2022. The main emphasis for all those involved and taking part, will be to continue driving political will, towards tackling climate change. To that end, COP27 will seek to further harmonise the global efforts and drive collective action, in order to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis and its associated social, economic and environmental threats, including those which impact global food security.

General outline of the programme

There are three parallel spaces in which meetings will take place:

1. The formal multilateral negotiations by UN Member States. This 27th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP27) enables national delegations to negotiate, with a view to building on previous successes and paving the way for future ambition. The Netherlands government will send a delegation.
2. The ‘blue zone’ is a space for side-events to which national delegations as well as accredited organisations will have access. It will include the COP27 Egypt presidency programme that consists of a series of events and thematic dialogues including an Adaptation and Agriculture day, which takes place on 12 November. In addition, there will be a series of Pavilions, which will be hosted by a range of organisations, both governmental and non-governmental. The Pavilions are spaces where countries, groups of countries and observer organisations can open room for dialogue, host events and highlight research and expertise. Clim-Eat, the 'think and do tank' hosted by NFP together with a range of partners, is co-convening a first of its kind Pavilion at COP27 focusing on food and food systems transformations, a unique opportunity for stakeholders to showcase their solutions for food systems transformation at COP27.
3. Outside of the ‘blue zone’, a range of-side events and dialogues will be organised, where there are opportunities for non-accredited organisations to participate.

How to get involved

Private sector companies, civil society organisations, research institutes from the Netherlands or those working in partnership with Dutch organisations can get involved in various aspects of the programme as highlighted above, in various different ways.

To engage with your national government’s delegation, it is important to connect with them at your national level in the period towards the COP27. Many actors have started engaging at this level. NFP is planning to host a briefing session on food systems aspects of the climate negotiations before and shortly after COP27, in collaboration with the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. The session is meant particularly for Dutch organisations, research institutions and companies, in order for them to actively engage with the Dutch policy process, together with their constituencies in different countries and in different agrifood sectors. (see registration link below)

Regarding engagement with activities in the blue zone: if you are an accredited organisation, you may be among the co-hosts of activities in the Pavillions mentioned above. If you are not accredited, you may start exploring how to work in partnership with such accredited organisations, in order to provide input into the sessions they prepare. We will be sharing further details in the coming weeks and months on the food security related sessions, once more information becomes available. This will also include information on virtual participation.

Click here to register your interest in the NFP briefing sessions on COP27 and further updates.