Reference list COP27 Food-Nature-Climate Agenda
This list shows relevant commitments, pledges and initiatives related to the Food-Nature-Climate agenda at COP27 and presents an overview of insightful articles and different opinion pieces. This list is by no means complete.
Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan
A glance at the decisions taken at the Sharm El-Sheikh Climate Change Conference show that the implementation plan “acknowledges that climate change exacerbates the global energy and food crises, and vice versa, particularly in developing countries; and stresses that the increasingly challenging global geopolitical situation and its impact on the energy, food and economic situations, and the additional challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic should not be used as a pretext for backtracking, backsliding or de-prioritising climate action.”
The implementation plan also underlines the importance of the establishment of the four-year Sharm el-Sheikh joint work on implementation of climate action on agriculture and food security which is the successor of the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture and puts more emphasis on the vulnerabilities of agriculture to climate change, as well as approaches to addressing food security. This work includes the establishment of the Sharm el-Sheikh online portal.
Multistakeholder initiatives and pledges
There were quite some interesting initiatives related to food, agriculture and climate action
- Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation. FAST is hosted by FAO and aims to enhance countries' access to climate finance and investment, enhance knowledge sharing on climate action within agrifood systems and ensure that agrifood systems are embedded in climate change policies.
- The initiative on Climate Action and Nutrition. I-CAN is hosted by WHO and focuses on the potential for climate change adaptation and mitigation policies to also contribute to improved nutrition and healthy diets.
- Action for Water Adaptation and Resilience. AWARe is hosted by WMO and aims to promote water adaptation action, decrease water losses and underlines the interlinkages between water and climate action.
Financial commitments
While the COP27 delivered a breakthrough agreement on a new “Loss and Damage” Fund for vulnerable countries, a range of specific financial commitments were made in the domain of climate action in relation to food security. The World Leaders' Summit delivered amongst others a series of huge pledges:
- The Islamic development bank announced 10 billion dollars to food security and climate.
- The IMF announced 6 billion dollars for food security
- The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced 1.4 billion dollars for adaptation and food systems
From a Dutch perspective, it is worthwhile to point attention towards the Netherlands’ contribution of 110 million euro for the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program at COP27 that was welcomed by the African Union. The Netherlands also pledged a contribution to the Global Fertilizer Challenge, which contributes to fertilizer efficiency and soil health measures to combat food insecurity
Other announcements
There were many different pavilions related to food at COP27. Within this food community many new initiatives, announcements and partnerships gained form.
- The agriculture innovation mission for climate. ‘(AIM for Climate / AIM4C) is a joint initiative by the US and the UAE. AIM for Climate seeks to address climate change and global hunger by uniting participants to significantly increase investment in, and other support for, climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation over five years (2021 – 2025).’
- The Rockefeller Foundation Announces Ten Grants at COP27 to Scale Indigenous and Regenerative Agriculture Practices Globally
- “Germany launched the development of a “Global Shield against Climate Risks”, which was unanimously supported by the G7. The shield will bundle activities in the field of climate risk insurance and prevention.’
- Germany also announced another 15 million dollar for CompensACTION for payments to climate actions for farmers.
- The US committed 15 million dollars on early warning systems for small islands and developing states.
- There was 1 billion dollars announced for solar electrification for food storage by the World bank and the International Renewable Energy agency.
Various articles reflecting on the COP27 outcomes
Clim-Eat who also co-hosted the first ever Food Systems Pavilion (FSP) at a COP, produced an overview to reflect on the “disappointments and glimmers of hope for smallholder farmers” from the summit.
Leading up to COP27 Clim-Eat also worked on a policy brief which focussed on compensating farmers for ecosystems services, in support of the work with the German G7 Presidency. The policy brief was launched during COP together with the 15 million dollar CompensACTION package (see above).
FSP organisers also produced a response letter to the decision on the future of the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture in which Food Systems had featured, albeit not as prominently as had been hoped.
IFAD presented a paper discussing the proceedings most pertinent to IFAD’s mission of investing in rural people and helping them build resilience to climate change.
An article from Reuters questions how far COP27 has inched beyond past climate deals and examines the negotiations on the shape of carbon markets and argues that while some progress has been made “many decisions were pushed to next year or later, including whether avoided emissions from deforestation or other sources should qualify for carbon credits.”
Katy Askew, editor of foodnavigator.com names COP27 “A ‘notable disappointment’ for sustainable food systems.” It is positive that “the role that food plays in climate change will remain on the agenda for future climate efforts” but “the focus on the supply side takes sustainable diets off the table” and “big agribusiness dominates while small-scale farmers are left in the cold”.
To conclude, we point your attention to AFSA, a broad alliance of civil society actors who are part of the struggle for food sovereignty and agroecology in Africa. AFSA agreed Africa’s farmers were ignored at COP27 Climate Talks.
