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UN
Global Climate Action
10
December
2023 | |
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Top
of the COP
High-Level
Champions' Newsletter for
COP28 | |
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COP28
beckons bold transformation of water & food
systems | |
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Commitments
to transform our broken food system are a
stand-out story at COP28. Food actors are calling
for national ambition, as the transformation of
water & food systems is central - not just to
solving the climate and nature crises - but also
to resolving worsening social tensions.
Food
- 152
World Leaders Have Signed Food
Declaration:
The COP28 Presidency announced the landmark UAE
Agriculture and Food Declaration at the World
Climate Action summit on Friday and - at the
time of writing - 152 world leaders have signed
up. Signatory countries represent 77% of
national governments, speaking for 5.9 billion
people, and accounting for 73% of the food we
eat, representing 518 million farmers, and
responsible for 78% of total emissions from food
systems. The ‘COP28 UAE Declaration on
Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems,
and Climate Action’
landed earlier this week, along with the
mobilization of more than USD 2.5 billion in
funding to support the food-climate agenda.
- Food
Transformation Movement Surges:
200+ diverse non-State actors, including
farmers, cities, businesses, financial
institutions, and civil society, have united
behind the Call to Action for
Transforming Food Systems for People, Nature,
and Climate.
The signatories commit to 10 priority actions to
transform food systems and call for a set of
time-bound, holistic, and global targets by
COP29 at the latest. The call to action to
transform food systems was launched at the
outset of COP by the High-Level Champion for
COP28, H.E. Razan Al Mubarak. It centres on the
need to support farmers and front line food
system actors and other vulnerable groups and
respect and value the Traditional Knowledge of
Indigenous Peoples.
- Alliance
of Champions for Food Systems Transformation
(ACF) Lands:
A new Alliance launches
today to turbocharge the transformation of
national food systems, aiming to deliver major
progress this decade. Founding countries (which
will soon be announced) are committing to a high
ambition agenda, reorienting policies,
practices, and investment priorities to deliver
better food system outcomes for people, nature
and climate.
- Scaling
the Protein Transition: The
first ‘Protein Transition Call to
Action’
launches today - rallying companies to boost the
availability of plant-based and alternative
proteins on supermarket shelves by 2030.
Food
leaders, including Madre Brava,
the Good Food Institute
and the Coller Foundation
are supporting the Call to Action and companies
are invited to join in scaling up the protein
transition to more sustainable protein
sources.
- UN
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Unveils
Global Agrisystems Transformation
Journey:
The UN agency responsible for food, has launched
a 1.5 C-aligned food systems
roadmap,
setting out a trajectory to 2030 with milestones
and transition pathways. Over
20 funders are aligning to unlock the resources
to shift food systems - unveiling the first ever
‘global price tag’ for the cost of regenerative
and agroecological transitions.
Water
- Over
30 Nations Unite Under Freshwater Challenge:
Over
30 countries have committed to the Freshwater Challenge,
a country-led initiative to restore 300,000 km
of degraded rivers and 350 million hectares of
degraded wetlands by 2030, while conserving
intact freshwater ecosystems.
- Accelerating
Urban Water resilience: Earlier
at COP, an Urban Water Resilience working group
was launched within the Sharm El Sheikh Adaptation
Agenda.
Building on this, the pilot phase of the
Urban Water Catalyst
Initiative
launches today. The Initiative is focused on
improving urban water performance, and improving
access to underserved population groups.
- African
cities awarded USD 20 million for urban water
resilience: Three
African Cities have secured USD 20 million to
implement urban water resilience projects via
the African Cities Water Adaptation
Platform
(ACWA). The Platform, which launched at COP27,
combines subnational and national governments
and partners - from researchers, to civil
society, development agencies and business - to
advance urban water resilience in Africa.
Race
to Zero
- Dairy
Giants Join Game Changing Methane Moment:
An
historic alliance of the global food companies
Bel Group, Danone, General Mills, Kraft Heinz,
Lactalis USA, and Nestlé have joined the
Dairy Methane Action
Alliance
to address methane emissions in their dairy
supply chains. The Alliance was formed by the
Race to Zero
Accelerator, EDF + Biz.
Given methane can warm up the planet up to 27x
faster than other greenhouse gases, this stands
to be a game changing moment.
- 76%
rise in food & agriculture members of the
Race to Zero: As
of 2023, there are 612 food & agriculture
members in the Race to Zero; a 76% rise, from 347 members in
2022.
These companies and organisations are actively
working to transform the food sector, which is
responsible for around one third of global GHG
emissions.
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About the High-Level
Champions | |
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Created
under the Paris Agreement, the UN Climate Change
High-Level Champions have a mandate to connect the
work of national governments with voluntary and
collaborative action taken by cities, regions,
businesses, investors and civil society worldwide.
Through the Race to Zero
and Race to Resilience
campaigns, the Champions are mobilizing robust,
science-based commitments and actions to reduce
emissions, build resilience and end nature loss in
line with limiting global warming to
1.5C.
For
more news from COP28, visit climatechampions.unfccc.int. | |
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Call
for major climate action announcements: Global
Climate Action
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The
secretariat is tracking major climate action
announcements made at COP 28 – including the
launch of initiatives and declarations and the
reporting of progress information on existing
initiatives and declarations.
The
announcements will be featured on the COP 28 Event
page of the UNFCCC’s Global Climate Action Portal
and will help inform the global climate action
outcomes at COP 28. You can notify us of your
announcements using this form. | |
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