An expert meeting examined the latest scientific evidence on climate change and agrifood systems to provide targeted scientific and technical inputs to support the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Seventh Assessment Report (AR7). Jointly sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the IPCC, the meeting focused on: risks and impacts; interactions across mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage; synergies and solutions; and implementation pathways.
The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) summary report of the meeting highlights that agrifood systems are at the heart of climate change and food security challenges. As climate change is increasingly affecting food production, agrifood systems continue to be the source of a significant amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. ENB notes that these interlinked challenges require “integrated solutions that simultaneously strengthen food security, build resilience, and reduce emissions.”
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The Expert Meeting on Agriculture and Food acknowledged the need to move beyond sectoral approaches towards an agrifood systems perspective. Participants called for climate responses to take into account “the entire food value chain, from production and processing to consumption and food loss and waste,” according to ENB. Discussions also tackled “the complex interconnections between climate change, food security, biodiversity, health, equity, livelihoods, land use, water resources, and sustainable development.”
The meeting underscored, inter alia:
- There can be no long-term food security without widespread and systemic adaptation to climate change, with participants calling for moving from identifying adaptation options to focusing on adaptation effectiveness, residual risks, adaptation limits, and the cost of inaction;
- New scientific evidence relating to climate change mitigation opportunities across agrifood systems, including sustainable intensification, improved nutrient management, methane reduction, agroforestry, agroecological approaches, restoration of degraded lands, reductions in food loss and waste, and dietary change; and
- The enabling conditions for the needed transformation and successful implementation, including the role of governance, institutions, and finance.
Over the course of four days, meeting participants emphasized the importance of “robust scientific evidence to support policy and decision makers in choosing the best solutions to address the complex issues surrounding agrifood systems and climate change.”
The Expert Meeting on Agriculture and Food convened in Rome, Italy, from 2-5 June 2026, gathering over 100 multidisciplinary experts from around the world.
The IPCC’s seventh assessment cycle kicked off in July 2023, when the Panel elected the new IPCC Chair, IPCC Bureau, and Bureau for the Task Force on National GHG Inventories (TFI). [ENB Coverage of Expert Meeting on Agriculture and Food]