Saturday at COP28 focused on nature, land use, and oceans, while Sunday was the first-ever COP day dedicated entirely to food, agriculture and water.

Despite food generating one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, agriculture has attracted very little climate finance. However, since the beginning of this COP, over $3 billion in climate finance has been pledged for food and agriculture.

The Dubai climate summit in which “when food came of age as a central means of responding to the climate emergency”, according to Edward Davey, partnerships director at the Food and Land Use Coalition, also saw another first: the publication by the UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of a global food systems’ roadmap.

The roadmap aims to ensure the world keeps to with 1.5 degrees of temperature rise and transform the world’s agrifood system from a ‘net emitter’ to a ‘carbon sink’ by 2050. The FOA identified 10 priority areas – such as livestock, soil and water, crops, diets and fisheries – where the roadmap can help push the world closer to achieving ‘Zero Hunger’, the second of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

COP28 in numbers

$3.8 trillion: value of crops and livestock production lost due to disasters, including floods and droughts, over the past three decades.

$3+ billion: amount of climate finance pledged for food and agriculture since the start of COP28.

134: number of countries to have signed Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action, committing to integrate food into their climate plans by 2025.

70: the percentage of the world’s land that the above countries cover.

$200 million: amount of investment pledged for programmes to low-methane animals and develop less potent feed additives (Bezos Earth Fund is also investing in wearable sensors that measure how much cows emit).

$200 million: amount pledged by the Gates foundation and the United Arab Emirates to help smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia adapt to climate change.

47: the percentage by which global greenhouse gas emissions from livestock will grow by 2050 from 2015 levels if no action is taken.

18: countries which announced that they would align their national climate and biodiversity planning frameworks under the COP28 Joint Statement on Climate, Nature and People.

Articles

• The world’s top five meat companies’ emissions are estimated to be significantly larger than those of the oil firms Shell and BP. The dairy industry’s 3.4 per cent contribution to global human-induced emissions is a higher share than aviation (The Guardian)
• Ireland is committed to continuing sustainable food production and becoming climate neutral as fast as possible, says Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue (Irish Times)

Find more news on the global climate summit our our COP28 page on Chartered Accountants Ireland's sustainability centre.