Reforming the world’s food and land systems is one of the greatest opportunities for effective climate action. Yet it has been routinely overlooked in national climate policies.
Although the world produces enough food to feed everyone today, hundreds of millions still go hungry, while one-third of all food produced is lost or wasted. Consumption patterns are also deeply unequal: People in wealthy nations eat far more meat and dairy — the most resource- and emissions-intensive foods — than those in other parts of the world.
This is not only inefficient, but unsustainable. Food systems are responsible for 34% of global greenhouse gas emissions, consume an enormous amount of land and water and drive around three-quarters of tropical deforestation. At the same time, agriculture is increasingly threatened by drought, extreme heat and other climate-driven impacts, which can ravage yields and put farmers’ livelihoods at risk.
Food is also deeply woven in everyone’s culture and livelihoods. Nearly half of the world’s population lives in households where someone is employed in the food system. This political and social importance helps explain why governments around the world spend more than $700 billion each year on direct farm subsidies.
Feeding the world’s growing population in a changing climate will require a farm-to-fork overhaul of our food systems. We need to produce food more efficiently while protecting nature and biodiversity; reduce food waste in all countries and meat consumption in rich countries; and restore degraded land to productivity.
The seeds are already planted. At COP28, 159 nations endorsed the historic Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, agreeing for the first time to integrate sustainable food systems into their national climate plans by 2025, scale-up adaptation and resilience for farmers, reduce food loss and waste and more. Countries need to make significant progress this year to fulfill their promise by COP30 in 2025 in Belem.
WRI’s annual Stories to Watch event was founded to shed light on this question. Each year, our experts assess the biggest shifts and critical decisions that will affect people around the world, serving as a go-to resource for policymakers, business leaders, thought leaders and the media.
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