COP27’s golden opportunity to save our food systems and avert climate disaster

From devastating storms and flooding to record heat waves and droughts, farmers across the world — from Minnesota to Ecuador, from Niger to Kenya — are experiencing firsthand the threat of climate change. The world is also facing the worst food crisis in decades: over 20 million people are at the brink of famine and 345 million people are facing acute food insecurity. Global hunger and climate change are inextricably linked — they both demand an urgent reshaping of our food systems.

As world leaders gather in Egypt this November for COP27, they have a unique opportunity to shift resources and goals toward truly transformative solutions. What is standing in the way?

One major barrier is the lack of financing. A new report from the Global Alliance for the Future of Food finds that food production, processing, consumption and waste account for a third of all global greenhouse gas emissions, yet food systems receive just 3 percent of climate finance.

This has to change. And that is why McKnight joined 13 other philanthropic funders to make our case to COP27 President Sameh Shoukry that he use the summit to ensure food systems get the attention and funding they need.

Over 70 percent of countries are missing specific details on food systems reform in their climate plans (known as Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs). All countries need to produce ambitious plans to improve their food systems, in ways that are rooted in the needs of local farmers and food networks — and high-emitting, high-income countries should provide the financial support to make it happen.

A good example of integrating food systems measures into NDCs can be found in Kenya, where they clearly identify strategies and funding needs for their implementation. Kenya estimates its finance needs until 2030 are $60 billion, 13 percent of which will be funded by domestic resources. That means the remaining 87 percent will require international support. This includes mitigation measures like scaling up nature-based solutions and climate-smart agriculture, and adaptation approaches like building the resilience of agricultural systems through sustainable management of land, soil and water.

Climate change is moving at a dramatic speed, and current food systems are both a driver and a casualty. At the same time, massive global eruptions of other sorts — war, political and economic upheaval, and the COVID pandemic — are also having devastating effects on food systems, highlighting the unsustainability and fragility of the current dominant approaches.

This is a window of opportunity to change our relationship with food for the better, bringing benefits not just for the climate but also for biodiversity, health and food security. Governments must act quickly and systematically to make it easier for farmers to advance climate solutions on the ground, which will make their operations and their livelihoods more resilient while also creating healthy soil, clean water, nourishing food and thriving economies.

Business also has a role to play in creating the enabling environment for agricultural climate solutions to become common practice. In the Midwest, for example, agriculture is the backbone of the rural economy; it is also home to many of the world’s leading corporate agribusinesses. These businesses have an opportunity to join forces with advocates — in part on the upcoming national farm bill — to ensure that farming is contributing to sustainable practices, not inhibiting them. What is done in the Midwest to help farmers adopt sustainable practices can help transform global food systems.

And though we need major action from governments and business, it cannot be overstated how directly we rely on the wisdom, ingenuity and leadership of local farmers. When they have a say in the health of their food, water and resources, and share their knowledge, they too are a force for global change. Farmers create healthy, sustainable food systems that feed families and improve the livelihoods and resilience of entire communities in the face of climate change.

Food is an undeniable human right. We see how fragile our global food systems are and how quickly external shocks can cause food prices to spike, and access to food to plummet. It’s crucial that leaders attending this year’s COP27 bring food systems into the spotlight and beyond — we cannot afford to ignore the climate and humanitarian implications.

Tonya Allen is president of the McKnight Foundation.