{"id":41096,"date":"2023-12-13T14:29:46","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T14:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=41096"},"modified":"2023-12-13T14:29:46","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T14:29:46","slug":"did-cop28-overlook-the-importance-of-food-systems-and-agriculture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/did-cop28-overlook-the-importance-of-food-systems-and-agriculture\/41096\/","title":{"rendered":"Did COP28 overlook the importance of food systems and agriculture?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Food systems are responsible for a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, so experts agree that a global transition to regenerative agriculture would mitigate this impact.<\/p>\n
This transition is crucial in keeping global temperatures below 2\u00b0C, as regenerative agriculture would sequester around 27% of these emissions<\/a>.<\/p>\n While agriculture is mentioned once in the report, sustainable food systems and soil, our planet\u2019s largest terrestrial carbon sink and contributor to climate change, are not referenced.<\/p>\n The global Save Soil movement (backed by the UNCCD, UNEP, UNFAO, and World Food Program) has called on the report to inspire nations to recognise healthy agri-soil as a critical carbon sequestration<\/a> solution and establish national policies for soil health.<\/p>\n Speaking on the issue, Praveena Sridhar, Chief Technical Officer of the Save Soil movement, stated: \u201cAgriculture, and namely soil, is a key climate solution that is being overlooked in the COP 28 text. There have been some hugely positive strides forward this year at COP, including the UAE Agriculture Declaration.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it is not also positioned as a key solution in the Global Stocktake report, a huge opportunity to inspire nations towards focused policy change towards regenerative food systems will be lost. This couldn\u2019t be more critical for our survival \u2013 regarding carbon sequestration and food security.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the collective energy of 600 million farmers who work on 4.8 billion hectares of land is directed towards efforts to improve their soil quality, restore land and undertake climate-smart agriculture, we will see major and global changes in addressing the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity and pollution,\u201d added Dr Muralee Thummarukuddy, Director of the G20 Global Land Initiative Coordination Office of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.<\/p>\n While agriculture being acknowledged briefly at COP28 is still a step in the right direction, it must be recognised that food systems are broken differently, as nearly 400 million people face food insecurity.<\/p>\nSustainable agriculture is vital for mitigating climate change<\/h3>\n
Transforming our food systems can provide these necessary changes<\/h3>\n