Posted on February, 27 2024

An interactive tool to help countries implement policies that will transform national food systems has been launched today at the UN Environment Assembly meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. The Food Forward NDCs tool has been developed by WWF and Climate Focus, in partnership with an advisory group of technical experts. The tool provides evidence-based policy options and measures for transitioning to nature-positive, healthy and resilient food systems. It follows the commitments made by more than 150 Heads of State at December’s climate COP to transform food systems. Accordingly, the new tool focuses on how nature-positive actions on food can be specifically included in national climate plans, including Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement.

Food Forward NDCs provides detailed policy options and measures in more than 30 specific areas - including improving access to food, reducing emissions from livestock, shifting to clean energy on the farm, implementing circular food systems, and increasing demand for sustainable healthy diets - categorised in five priority intervention areas. By considering which intervention areas - namely food environment, food governance, food production, food supply chains and food consumption - are most important in their particular context, along with whether climate change mitigation or adaptation is the more pressing concern, policymakers can identify the most relevant policy options that will help deliver NDC commitments, the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. 

The guidance has been compiled in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme, FAO, NDC Partnership, FAIRR Initiative, CGIAR, Global Alliance for the Future of Food, Biovision Foundation and the Agroecology Coalition, with financial support from the German government - specifically, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). 

Martina Fleckenstein, Global Food Policy Lead, WWF said: “Restoring nature and limiting the impacts of climate change are two sides of the same coin. We can’t have one without the other – and we can’t achieve either without transforming food systems. World leaders showed ambition on food at COP28, but there remain significant gaps and challenges in implementing action, one of which has been a lack of consolidated guidance that takes into account the different needs around the world. Instead of piecemeal information for whom it is unclear it is most relevant, Food Forward NDCs gathers and contextualises a multitude of concrete policy options and helps to fill this gap.”

Pablo Vieira, Global Director, NDC Partnership Support Unit said: "Food systems reflect an important opportunity for countries to strengthen the ambition and fast-track the implementation of their NDCs, in ways that also address critical development needs. Clear and detailed guidance, as presented in Food Forward NDCs, will not only help countries to understand the options available to them, but empower them to raise their climate ambition in meaningful ways." 

Food Forward NDCs presents not only policy options and detailed benefits for nature, climate and people, but also costs and challenges, examples of real-world implementation, and an overview of the interaction between different actions and their various co-benefits and trade-offs. This will enable countries to align NDCs with food systems approaches that consider production, consumption and loss and waste – actions all required to limit impacts of climate change and restore nature. Analysis has shown that while most NDCs now include food-based climate action, just two countries take food systems approaches that encompass all three elements, with food loss and waste (in as few as 36 NDCs) and consumption (5 NDCs) widely overlooked. 

As a well-established set of national actions, raising the ambition of food systems commitments in NDCs and accelerating their implementation offers a major opportunity to halt and restore nature loss and deliver enough healthy and nutritious food for everyone within planetary boundaries. Similar ambition in national commitments to the Global Biodiversity Framework is also needed. The tool will be expanded in the future to include policy actions and measures for National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans. 

 

Haseeb Bakthary, Senior Consultant, Climate Focus said: “The Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action was another milestone in the international efforts to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and food security in a holistic way. But we need to move from declaration of commitments to more concrete actions. The Food Forward NDCs tool is a consolidated and user-friendly resource to help decision makers in this journey. It presents concrete policy options and measures to support policymakers and practitioners in designing and implementing policy measures that enable systemic shifts in food systems to meet NDC targets.”

Julia Wolf, Natural Resources Officer, FAO said: “There is growing recognition that transforming our agrifood systems is central to fixing the climate crisis. FAO and partners have been instrumental in bringing agriculture and food systems to the top table for discussion at recent climate change COPs, and this important new tool builds on longstanding efforts to embed the agrifood dimension more deeply in Paris Agreement commitments, including through NDCs and National Adaptation Plans. Importantly, Fast Forward NDCs also lays out concrete steps that countries can take to achieve their climate goals while strengthening food security and nutrition, improving environmental outcomes, and boosting rural livelihoods.”

Stephanie Heiland, Team Lead Sector Program Agriculture at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH said: "The Food Forward NDC Guidance Tool by WWF and Climate Focus provides a much-needed input on the nexus of climate and agricultural and food systems. It supports national decision-makers in incorporating agricultural and food systems into their NDCs. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has been supporting the development and launch of the tool. We will continue our strategic partnership in the next phase with the roll-out of the tool in selected countries with key stakeholders."

Ismahane Elouafi, Executive Managing Director, CGIAR said: ““The strength of this tool is that it provides countries with recommendations on actions to take to improve their NDCs, that are science and evidence-based. Science helps us understand the intricate connections between our food systems and climate, so that we can make informed decisions that drive positive change.”

Oliver Oliveros, Co-ordinator, Agroecology Coalition, said: “This NDC Guidance is very much welcome. It comes at the very right time when our food systems, crucial to human existence, are increasingly feeling the impacts of climate change. Paradoxically, our current food systems also contribute significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions. This tool shows us how everything is interconnected and how agroecological food systems can tackle the climate, biodiversity, land degradation and hunger crises together – because they’re based on diversity, resilience and equity.”
 

Keenya Hofmaier, Senior Policy Officer, FAIRR Initiative said: "It is critical we see quantitative targets for reducing countries’ agri-food emissions across all countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The comprehensive guidance found in the Food Forward NDCs guidance tool will help policymakers identify key areas of action to achieve these targets. At COP28, 150+ countries pledged to better include food in NDCs and contribute to a more sustainable food system. FAIRR welcomes the collaborative effort behind this guidance tool as it will help countries fulfil this commitment and other climate goals whilst funneling critically needed investment across key intervention areas, such as nature and sustainable diets."