A policy brief by the Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) Cities Biodiversity Center (CBC) and 13 other organizations calls on governments and the climate community to address food and agriculture as a key driver of land-use change and the climate crisis, by taking measures to reduce the sector’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The policy brief titled, ‘An Urgent Call to Action to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Food and Agriculture,’ was launched on 4 December 2019 at the 25th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 25) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 

By the text, the livestock sector accounts for at least 14.5% of global GHG emissions, while population growth and its associated increases in urbanization and per-capita consumption of animal products will lead to a 70% increase by 2050. To reduce the consumption of food from animal sources, which will be key to meeting the goals under the Paris Agreement on climate change, the brief highlights the need for a multi-pronged approach by governments, researchers, civil society organizations, educational institutions and other stakeholders.

Over-consumption and over-production of animal-based foods “remains largely absent from international climate negotiations and commitments.”

The publication notes that while transforming current destructive, industrial and unsustainable food systems is essential to tackling the climate and biodiversity crises, over-consumption and over-production of animal-based foods “remains largely absent from international climate negotiations and commitments.”

To address this, the publication recommends:

• UNFCCC acknowledge the largest contributors to climate change in food and agriculture and provide technical assistance for parties to integrate food and agriculture into nationally determined contributions (NDCs);
• Syncing global climate and development policies to promote sustainable diets and systems of food production to achieve accelerated emissions reductions and the SDGs;
• Governments take “bold steps” to internalize the costs of livestock production and end tax and other incentives for growing feed crops;
• Actors to host dialogues between different governmental departments (such as Agriculture, Environment, Climate, Forests and Health) to ensure that policies are aligned and not jeopardized by regulations in other departments; and
• Governments shift procurement to encourage and demonstrate low GHG pathways.

Other suggested policies include shifting dietary choices, reducing food loss and waste, and improving land-use management and food security. [ICLEI Press Release] [Publication: An Urgent Call to Action to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Food and Agriculture]