The IPES-Food report ‘From Plate To Planet’ identifies inspiring examples of comprehensive food and climate action by city and regional governments drawn from Glasgow Declaration signatories. The report urges national governments to stop neglecting food systems in their climate pledges, and to pay attention to the pioneering emissions-slashing efforts of cities and regions.
Top line messages:
1 – We cannot limit global warming to 1.5C without much more urgent and far reaching action to transform food systems.
2 – Cities and regional governments are pioneering action on food and climate change – and the frontrunners are even linking up actions and measuring their progress. The report details dozens of inspiring examples and stories of effective on-the-ground action. They are cutting emissions by promoting healthy and sustainable diets, reducing food waste, shortening food chains, training organic farmers, and ensuring their poorest inhabitants can access healthy and sustainable food.
3 – Their actions to holistically reduce emissions from food systems and encourage healthy, sustainable food for all provide a blueprint for action on food and climate. This blueprint is one in which social justice, participation, accountability are put at the heart of climate action.
4 – Such innovative action contrasts dramatically with weak and fragmented action on food and climate change by national governments – as shown by their inadequate national climate pledges submitted under the Paris Agreement [NDCs]. Despite contributing one third of global greenhouse gas emissions and using 15% of fossil fuels, food systems are routinely overlooked in climate negotiations and climate plans.
IPES-Food recommends:
- National governments use the example of cities and regional governments as a blueprint for food and climate action – to inspire national food and climate policies.
- Governments act in coordination with city and regional governments, and provide more funding to them to take action on food and climate change, scaling it out to every city and region.
- Governments take the opportunity of the Paris Agreement stocktaking moment at COP28 to revise national climate commitments to systematically include food systems and local action.
WHY SHOULD WE PAY ATTENTION NOW?
- Inspiring success stories show us what can and needs to be done
- City and regional governments have continued to make progress in spite of mounting challenges
- Local sustainable food strategies show a blueprint for climate action with accountability, social justice, and participation, at its heart
- They’re working and they’re popular
FAST FACTS
Food systems are responsible for ⅓ of global greenhouse gas emissions:
- 13% agriculture and livestock
- 11% land-use change
- 10% transport, processing, packaging, retail, and waste
Food system actions could drive major reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions:
- 18% well-managed changes to production practices
- 8% transitioning to sustainable diets and halving meat production and consumption
- 8% halving food loss & waste
Local governments lead climate action
- 18 national governments and the EU have declared a climate emergency, vs. 2,317 local and regional authorities.
Greenhouse gas emissions reductions committed by local and regional governments go 35% above and beyond those pledged by national governments.
Transparency | Diversity | Dynamism | Evidence-based |