Climate talks to include food ahead of the COP30
Climate talks took place in Bonn before the world turned its attention to COP30 in Brazil, later in this year. The climate talks in Bonn, Germany, take place every year and are much smaller than the COP30, but they often lay the foundation for the upcoming event.
Food is important in any discussion of climate change, regardless of the size. According to Our World in Data, food production is responsible for 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
This statistic is not always taken seriously.
Was the focus on food systems at Bonn deserving? Did the discussions result in any conclusive, productive developments regarding food system sustainability, and more importantly?
Food was a hot topic at Bonn.
The Bonn Climate Talks were held between 16 June and 26 June this year. The early talks provided the Brazil Presidency with an opportunity to present its vision of COP30 in Belem, Brazil in November.
Several food-related issues were discussed. On June 17, the conference delivered on its promise made last year, to concentrate on agriculture.
Juliette Tronchon explains that experts and members (member states), were interested in holistic and systemsic approaches on how to bring agriculture and food systems into line with climate goals.
Bonn in Germany was the host city for this event (travelview/Getty images)
The issue was brought to the forefront by discussions on regenerative farming.
Harko Kster, Global Lead for Climate and Food Systems at the agrifood nonprofit SNV, explains that “regenerative agriculture was featured in several sessions but is still far away from being considered as an integral part of climate solutions.” SNV is part of the Action on Food Hub which includes EIT Food & Proveg International.
In many regions, including East Africa, Sahel and Southeast Asia, where SNV is active, smallholder farmers already use agroecological practices and low emission technologies to maintain livelihoods and eco-systems in times of stress. The approaches are effective, but remain unrecognised by global policy and financing frameworks.”
While no decisions were reached, explains Koster, he feels that there’s “growing momentum” to elevate regenerative agriculture models into both national action plans and investment priorities.
However, he criticises the “continued fragmentation in how food, water, and energy systems are addressed—despite their deep interdependence,” This limits the possibility of a structural, longer-term change.
Bonn is a major event for food systems: what about the COP30 conference?
The Brazilian Presidency announced the agenda of Mutirao – the main initiative at COP30. The Brazilian presidency announced five action points for this, including “Food Systems”, “Forests, Oceans and Biodiversity” and other topics.
The Action on Food Hub, which was present at the COP29 meeting, will also be at COP30.
Read also COP29: Has the food sector made progress?
The event also saw the launch of a ‘Declaration on Plant-Rich Diets’, which encourages national governments to support “healthy, sustainable diets”.
ProVeg’s declaration called for national governments to develop National Action Plans in order to increase the consumption of plant-based foods.
In the declaration, it was noted that agrifood is a top priority in most countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions for Climate Change (NDCs). This includes adaptation (94%), as well as mitigation (91%)
Tronchon explains that the declaration has three main goals: encourage countries to incorporate commitments about plant-based eating into their policies; raise awareness among governments and motivate them to take action; and get 100 signatures for the declaration, which can come from government, councils or cities, as well as civil society organizations, especially in important regions like China, Nigeria, and Brazil.
A wide variety of organisations from civil society have signed the declaration, including European Vegetarian Union (EVU) and Mighty Earth.