High-level side events continued at the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 28), in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) covered selected events that took place on 2 December, highlighting the role of partnerships and cooperation and of food systems transformation in achieving climate goals, among others.

An event on international cooperation to achieve a successful 2050 net-zero transformation, organized by the Marshall Islands and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), explored technologies to achieve net zero and highlighted best practices for establishing cooperative, international approaches to transform energy systems in developing countries.

Participants viewed a film titled, ‘Melting Greenland, Saving the Marshall Islands.’ The film illustrates the “astonishing rate” of ice melt in Greenland, which loses 10,000 tons of ice every second, threatening to submerge the Marshall Islands, where elevations average just two meters above current sea levels. John M. Silk, Minister of Natural Resources and Commerce, Marshall Islands, described the pain of potentially having to decide which islands to save and which islands to “surrender to the sea.”

A panel then discussed, among others: ITRI’s work to develop sustainable offshore wind facilities in Taiwan; ITRI’s development of a “single-serve window” to facilitate administrative aspects of developing wind power, such as obtaining necessary permissions and consent; a project to help households in the Marshall Islands install solar power systems; and other projects in the Marshall Islands that showcase the potential of circular agriculture, low-waste farms, and plastic waste recycling.

An event on the power of partnership platforms to deliver on COP 28’s food systems and agriculture agenda was organized by the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which recently launched a USD 200 million partnership for food systems, agriculture innovation, and climate action. The event consisted of three panels.

The first panel focused on support for the work done by CGIAR, including the development of technological solutions, which can provide small-scale farmers with the tools, data, and technology needed to support their crops and livelihoods. Participants highlighted that:

• the US met its commitment of USD 250 million to CGIAR and announced an additional USD 100 million over the next two years;
• the Netherlands pledged USD 110 million to CGIAR, in addition to the USD 150 million pledged to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); and
• the World Bank has contributed USD 1.5 billion in grant money to CGIAR and will contribute another USD 100 million over the next two years. 

The second panel discussed the Agricultural Innovation Mechanism for Scale (AIM4Scale) Initiative. The third panel saw the launch of the Food Systems Technical Cooperation Collaborative. Both of these were launched at COP 28.

A high-level event emphasized the need for a system-wide transformation of UN partners to avert the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, as well as to achieve the SDGs. It was organized by the UN Environment Management Group.

Inger Andersen, Executive Director, UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and EMG Chair, highlighted the findings of UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report 2023 and said the first Global Stocktake at COP 28 will inform new national emissions targets for 2035, which must bring emissions to levels consistent with the 2°C and 1.5°C pathways. Daniele Violetti, UNFCCC Secretariat, explained that the 2022 NDC Synthesis Report shows that achievement of 1.5°C pathways has been hampered by the lack of adequate national financial capacities for implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Other EMG members highlighted, among others: 

• the role of the private sector in providing technical support and innovation for countries to tackle climate-related challenges;
• the need to break out of silos and collaborate rather than compete;
• the COP 28 Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action, which has embedded sustainable agriculture and food systems as critical components in addressing climate change;
• the interconnections between climate change and chemicals, and the impacts of chemicals on food systems and human health;
• satellite imagery as a means to interpret and predict major drivers of environmental loss such as deforestation and chemical pollution; and
• the need to empower UN representatives to localize UN functions in a more cohesive manner.

Organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), another event shined a light on the role of agrifood systems in mitigating climate change, protecting and conserving biodiversity, and building inclusive and resilient livelihoods. FAO Director General QU Dongyu said Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action aims to scale up action to: reduce the vulnerability of farmers and producers; promote food security and nutrition; strengthen integrated management of water; and maximize climate and environmental benefits through agrifood systems.

Highlighting that small-scale farmers produce up to 70% of the food in developing countries, receive only a tiny fraction of climate finance, and are central to transforming the food system, speakers mentioned, among others: the 2022-2031 Doha Programme of Action, which calls for the development of a food stockholding mechanism for least developed countries (LDCs); the Africa Rural Climate Adaptation Financing Mechanism, launched at COP 28; and sovereign sustainability-linked bonds, which link a country’s sovereign bond financing strategy to its climate targets.