THE UNFCCC GLOBAL STOCKTAKE

UNFCCC CLIMATE GLOBAL STOCKTAKE 2023:

THE FOOD-CLIMATE NEXUS URGENCY AND SUBMISSION WITH PARTNERS

Most people are not familiar with The Global Stocktake (GST) process of the UNFCCC in climate change.  Here we have a simple overview to frame the importance of the GST, followed by a summary of the Joint Submission on Food with our partners in Sept 2023.  Many thanks to Sebastian Osborn at Mercy For Animals for helping us understand this complicated UN mechanism, and for leading the Joint Submission on Food.

BACKGROUND

The GST is a two-year process under the UNFCCC Paris Climate Agreement for reviewing progress at a global level towards long-term goals (across mitigation, adaptation, and finance). The GST is mandated every five years to allow for directing future action and to encourage progressively more ambitious national actions. The GST originates from Article 14 of the Paris Agreement. Given that the scope of the GST includes finance, it has also become a forum to highlight the failure of developed countries to meet the $ 100 billion/year finance goal.

At COP27, progress on the GST was highlighted in paras 74-77 of the cover decision, which also noted the Secretary-General’s invitation to convene a climate ambition summit in advance of COP28. The GST is an important element of COP28 (30 November to 12 December 2023).

There are three phases (in accordance with Decision 19/CMA.1) to the GST to be completed before the next round of nationally determined contribution (NDC) submissions in 2024-2025:

1. Information collection and preparation (Nov 2021 - June 2023)

• Inputs :  GST Information Portal

• The UNFCCC secretariat prepared four Synthesis Reports

• Non-paper on preparing for the GST, including guiding questions

2.     Technical Assessment (June 2022 - June 2023)

• Includes three Technical Dialogues (June 2022, Nov. 2022 and June 2023).

• The Technical Dialogues serve as a conversation between Parties, experts, and Non-Party Stakeholders. These are held in multiple formats including plenaries, roundtables, and “World Cafe” exchanges.

• TD.2 Summary report released March 31 2023

• In the agriculture sector, demand-side measures such as shifting to sustainable healthy diets and reducing food loss/waste, and intensification of sustainable agriculture, can reduce emissions and free up land for reforestation and ecosystem restoration. 

3.              Consideration of Outputs - CMA6 (Nov 2023)

• Outputs of the Technical Assessment through high-level events at COP28/CMA5.

• Conclusions from SB57  (Feb. 2023) on “the approach to the consideration of outputs component of the first global stocktake.”

• Summary from informal consultations with HoDs (March 2023)

WAYS TO ENGAGE

 Non-party stakeholder participation

• Admitted NGOs through NGO constituencies

• Other non-Party stakeholder’s forum (April 2023)

• Submissions. Example GST Submissions on food systems:

• WRI and partners have submitted WRI’s 2022 State of Climate Action, which does include recommendations on shifting to sustainable diets and lowering meat consumption in high consuming regions

• Submission from the Independent Global Stockate (iGST) consortium lead by ClimateWorks

• Submission from C2ES includes high impact opportunities around alternative proteins and increased consumption of fruits, vegetable, seeds, and legumes

• Submission from Project Drawdown includes plant-rich diets

• EDF’s methane measurement submission

SEPTEMBER 2023  “JOINT SUBMISSION ON FOOD IN THE GST” WITH PARTNERS

Real Food Systems participated with partners in the Food and Climate Action Group (a collaborative group of non-profit organizations working together on food systems, and especially on industrial animal agriculture issues related to climate and UNFCCC) in the development of a Submission leading up to COP28. Although these Submissions are necessarily over-arching and structured with policy language, the process is one way for civil society to have a voice in UN actions.

 The main points of our Joint Submission on Food in full here: (Document-Joint Submission on Food in the Global Stocktake)  

Key Messages

1. Addressing the food-climate nexus is essential for meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement and achieving food security, climate adaptation and climate mitigation.

2. The Global Stocktake must encourage comprehensive and ambitious action to improve the food system from production through consumption.

3. The Global Stocktake must signal a commitment to justice in climate action throughout the food system to avoid maladaptation.

4. The Global Stocktake should inspire action on keystone areas of opportunity for international cooperation.

Proposed Language —- Priorities and Opportunities

 Priority 1.A

Recognizing the critical need for global climate action, including adaptation, mitigation, and actions to respond to loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, to address all aspects of the food system, from production through consumption.

 Requests that Parties make greater efforts to integrate demand-side action into their nationally determined contributions.

 Priority 1.B

Requests Parties to incorporate in their updated nationally determined contribution referred to in Article 4, paragraph 2, of the Paris Agreement, and other relevant plans, strategies, reports, and instruments, as determined by Parties, a clear description of how all stages of the food system are considered within climate adaptation and mitigation plans.

Urges Parties to include more comprehensive actions to address all stages of the food system within climate adaptation and mitigation plans.

 Priority 2.A

Recognizes that because food systems are cross-cutting, climate action to address food systems should account for interfaces with human rights, gender equality, health, livelihoods, poverty eradication, food and nutrition security, ecosystems, biodiversity, animal welfare, and nature.

 Priority 2.B

Urges Party and non-Party stakeholders to upscale financial support for sustainable healthy food systems and to make these finance flows consistent with a 1.5 C pathway, including particular attention to the promotion of Means of implementation and support/finance flows Enhancing international sustainable healthy diets and improving small-scale food producer access to finance.

Recognizes that ensuring sustainable healthy diets is a priority for climate finance and requires a human rights based approach.

Calls for reform of climate finance to improve access for small-scale food producers.

 Opportunity 1

Urges Parties to identify and collectively eliminate, phase out, or reform agricultural incentives, including subsidies, harmful for climate mitigation, adaptation, or food security, in a proportionate, just, fair, effective and equitable way, seeking opportunities to shift incentives to support more sustainable food systems.

Opportunity 2

Collectively commits to shifting globally to more sustainable food consumption patterns, inclusive of sustainable healthy diets and reducing food waste, and to supporting this shift with national efforts in line with principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.

Urges developed country Parties to include in their updated nationally determined contribution referred to in Article 4, paragraph 2, of the Paris Agreement, emissions reduction targets for food systems or the AFOLU sector Mitigation Guidance and way forward and a description of how this aligns with efforts to achieve the 1.5 C target.

 Opportunity 3

Recognizes the importance of prioritizing the production of food for direct human consumption in fisheries and arable land under agricultural use.