Episode 163: COP28 Recap with Lauren Baker
The Checkout checks in with Lauren Baker of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food. What went on at the annual United Nations conference on climate change, COP28, and how does it relate to the food industry? Will regenerative agriculture and agroecology have a role to play?
Lauren Baker, Ph.D., has more than 20 years of experience facilitating cross-sectoral research, policy, and advocacy for sustainable food systems in non-profit, academic, business, policy, and philanthropic contexts. Lauren’s expertise ranges from researching agricultural biodiversity in Mexico to negotiating and developing municipal food policy and programs. At the Global Alliance, Lauren’s work is focused on the intersections between food systems and health, climate change, agroecology, and true cost accounting.
25 leading philanthropies today issued a joint call for a tenfold increase in funding for regenerative and agroecological transitions to address urgent global agricultural and environmental challenges. Together these philanthropies urge that to align food systems with the 1.5ºC goal of the Paris Agreement there is a need to phase out fossil fuel use, especially fossil fuel–based agrochemicals in industrial agriculture, and transition toward agroecology and regenerative approaches.
Supporting this call to action, participating philanthropies today released a new report, “Cultivating Change: Accelerating and Scaling Agroecology and Regenerative Approaches,” which highlights the transformative potential of regenerative, agroecological, and Indigenous food systems and calls for a substantial increase in funding to 2040 and beyond.
Dubai, 13 December 2023—
Following the conclusion of COP28, and in response to the Global Stocktake and Global Goal on Adaptation, Patty Fong, Program Director at the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, said:
“For the first time, the link between climate change and food systems was front and centre at this COP, which is welcome. Endorsement of the Emirates Declaration on Food and Agriculture by 158 countries is a big step forward, although it’s a shame the declaration makes no reference to fossil fuels. Strong references to the need for resilient and sustainable food systems in the text on adaptation were also welcome.
“However, there was not enough recognition overall of the imperative of transforming fossil-fuel dependent food systems to cut global emissions. With food systems accounting for over one-third of GHG emissions this is a big oversight. The scale of oil-and-gas apologism at COP28 – coupled with the sizable meat and dairy lobby present – blocked progress on this.
“Equally, the lack of detail on where the money will come from to help low-income countries adapt and transform agriculture and their wider economies in the face of a rapidly changing climate is disappointing.
“Countries have just 14 months to revise and submit their NDCs ahead of COP30. We need to focus on transformational pathways that address both mitigation and adaptation together. This should include a shift to regenerative and agroecological food systems, and sustainable whole-food diets (especially in high-consuming countries).”
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