Slow Food on COP28: on Food, much ado about nothing

“This was supposed to be the Food COP, but the conclusions were not good neither for the future of the food systems nor for limiting the effects of climate change”, comments Edward Mukiibi, Slow Food president. “The expectations around potentially positive efforts such as the Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, signed by over 150 States, the Sharm el-Sheikh Joint Work on Agriculture and Food Security and the FAO Roadmap were failed by the lack of concrete and binding targets, the influence of major emitters in the agriculture sector and the postponement of the discussions to transform the food systems at the next meetings”.

The main outcome of COP28, namely the Global Stocktake, was largely void, with just one mention of food systems under the Adaptation section but excluded from the Mitigation section. At last, after long negotiations, the mention of a transition away from fossil fuels has been included for the first time, but the deal is full of loopholes that will allow countries not to move as fast as needed to limit global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. In addition, despite the different historical responsibility for emissions between developed and developing countries it does not properly differentiate their roles in the transition away from fossil fuels.

“Most disappointingly, as expected, agroecology was sidelined and did not emerge in policy discussions as a key element, nor was it mentioned as the solution which will allow us to reverse the course and fight against climate change”.

Translated, this means a further worrying delay in addressing the urgent climate challenges the planet is facing, ignoring crucial climate solutions through a meaningful food systems transformation.

Once more, COP28 demonstrated how such high-level global meetings do not look at the future of our planet and our health but are captured by  major corporations’ interests. “On the other side, fortunately municipalities,regional organizations and civil society are taking more concrete steps to tackle daily challenges related to climate change and biodiversity loss. The future stays in the hands of our communities on the ground and the collaboration with those truly interested in the transition to sustainability”, concludes Mukiibi.