The Food & Climate Action Group
Our current food systems are harming our climate, nature and people’s health. By shifting to plant-rich, inclusive and resilient food systems, it is possible to feed the world with healthy diets within planetary boundaries.
Real Food Systems is a member of the Food & Climate Action Group (FCAG), a coalition of 20+ international NGOs advocating primarily for food systems transformation within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Action Group’smission is to promote and support long-term and systemic change in food consumption and production at global and national levels in order to reduce our reliance on animal-centric food systems as a pathway to stay within the Paris Agreement targets. There needs to be a shift toward more plant-rich, healthy, and affordable diets and sustainable, resilient and inclusive agricultural practices that also support small-scale farmers/food producers and local communities.
To achieve this, the Action Group engages with UNFCCC bodies and associated agencies, Parties and Non-Party Stakeholders, to influence policy instruments, principles, and negotiations made under the auspices of the UNFCCC. The group may also utilize opportunities to engage in initiatives and processes outside of this framework, where these inform or advance our UNFCCC advocacy efforts.
History and Structure
The Food & Climate Action Group takes an action-oriented, member-driven approach to achieving food systems change by driving collective impact. It brings together a growing number of organizations with experience and expertise in diverse areas, including food awareness, environment, sustainability, animal welfare and health. Initially established in 2022 as the UNFCCC Action Group under the umbrella of the 50by40 network of organizations, its members decided to continue their independent and collaborative work following the closure of 50by40 in its previous form, and establish the Food & Climate ActionGroup. The group became operational in October 2023.
RFS has contributed to a number of Submissions with the FCAG, for example, the following submissions in 2023:
1. UNFCCC Mitigation Working Programme: Joint submission on suggested topics under the Mitigation Work Programme in line with the UNFCCC decision-/CMA.4, Matters relating to the work programme for urgently scaling up mitigation ambition and implementation.
2. Submission to the Sharm El-Sheikh joint work on implementation of climate action on agriculture and food security, for consideration at SB58 March 2023.
3. Global Stocktake: Joint Submission: “Views from Parties and stakeholders on the elements for the consideration of outputs component”.This submission brings together a wide range of civil society organizations working on food systems and climate change to highlight the need for a global Stocktake (GST) outcome which strongly encourages ambitious and urgent action to address the food-climate nexus.
To learn more, please contact us at info@realfoodsystems.org
