Scheduled for December this year, COP28 is an important milestone on the climate agenda as it will allow countries to review their progress and set new goals to realign with commitments made for the 2030 Agenda. Food systems are one critical aspect of these goals but this topic has been overlooked for quite some time in favor of other objectives. This is partly due to the fact that the categorization of climate goals does not accurately depict the interconnected nature of some of these issues. Reaching the ambitious goals states have set for 2030 might require actors at a national and international level to reassess their strategy.
A survey conducted by Ipsos for the World Economic Forum highlights an interesting paradox. This survey asked people worldwide to rank the seventeen SDGs from most to least important. The results of this study show that the three SDGs that people ranked the highest were SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 1 (no poverty), and SDG 3 (good health and wellbeing). Yet in practice progress towards eradicating hunger has been slow or even stagnant. Statistics from the FAO show that in 2020, the number of people facing hunger reached 720 to 811 million people. Projections for 2030 expect this number to reduce only to around 660 million people. What explains this phenomenon?
One explanation is that it has not been made a priority in the past. An article from the Economist Impact highlighted that COP27 was the first COP to mention the importance of food systems. This neglect of food systems could come from a common misconception as to what the term signifies. Indeed, food systems are often thought of only as the end- of- life of a product. For instance, we are often reminded to sort our trash into different colored bins so that they can then be recycled and reused. However, food systems are much more than this. They are best understood as a chain of production that includes agriculture, farming, production, consumption, and waste. The European Commission describes food systems as “the entire range of actors and their interlinked value-adding activities involved in the production, aggregation, processing, distribution, consumption, and disposal (loss or waste) of food products that originate from agriculture (incl. livestock), forestry, fisheries, and food industries, and the broader economic, societal, and natural environments in which they are embedded.”
The neglect of food systems in important policies is also illustrated in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) which are progress reports drafted every 5 years by signatory states at the Paris Agreement in 2015. These reports show that most states tend to focus on reduction of greenhouse gas emission (GHG) by setting goals for the energy sector, and other related industries. However, few of them mention efforts to create more resilient and sustainable food systems although they contribute to around one-third of greenhouse gas emissions. This demonstrates that despite the interconnections between many climate issues, topics are often dealt with in isolation of each other.
It is because food systems are so complex that they are more important than we think. Their repercussions are various and far-reaching. For instance, a campaign on plastic pollution, much like the recent scandal of plastic straws injuring sea turtles, relates to inefficient and non-resilient food systems. This relates to packaging waste in the chain of production. At the same time, malnutrition, food insecurity and other health related issues are linked to issues with the access and the distribution of vital food. Similarly, an FAO article highlights that food systems have the possibility to affect broader issues like conflict, climate variability and extremes, and economic slowdowns and downturns.
Furthermore, the importance of the role of certain actors within this chain of production is deeply misunderstood. Private actors have often been antagonized as the ones responsible for pollution; this is reflected in legislation that limits their actions instead of supporting innovation. For instance, the European Commission is in the process of passing the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) that states that all packaging is reusable or recyclable by 2030 and as a result ban all non reusable packaging. However, the private sector is also a driver of innovation and has the power to revolutionize what we eat and have deeper repercussions on society. The progress of the private sector towards mitigating climate change can be limited by the misunderstanding of their role in food systems. Private actors are very influential. A recent article from The Guardian shared that four companies control an estimated 70-90% of the global grain trade. There is a business opportunity for private actors to switch to sustainable practices not only for their customers but also in terms of cost reduction and competitiveness. As a result, more and more companies are participating in eco-friendly investment projects or research innovation like The Good Food Institute which develops alternative proteins to build more resilient food systems. Similarly, companies are reevaluating the sustainability of their production chain like Starbucks which has set a goal to reduce both its water, waste and carbon footprint by fifty percent by 2030. Therefore, policy making needs to support creation of innovation and research like these if we want to reach the expected climate goals by 2030 and other future goals.
In sum, climate issues are much more correlated than we think and the success of one of the goals might help solve others. In this sense, rather than considering the problem as a finality and trying to solve it, we should look at the broader picture and how issues overlap. In terms of food systems, we can’t only focus on agriculture or waste; if so, there will be gaps in the production chain. Climate change mitigation is a global effort, and all actors should be considered. Misconceptions about the role of certain actors, like the private sector, can limit our view of the potential solutions they can lay ahead and will hinder the creation of research and innovation necessary to achieve the SDGs.
Edited by Rebecca Bennett
Victoire Thierry is entering her third year at McGill university studying International Development and Political Science. She is a first-time writer and her interest include sustainability, migration and international relations.
Very good synopsis of the incompleteness of the Sustainable Development Goals system.