913. COP28 - Integrating Food System Transformation in the Climate Change Agenda

COP28, which has been meeting in Dubai since November 30, saw significant developments on December 1 when a declaration to integrate food system transformation into the climate agenda was endorsed by over 130 countries.
 
In particular, the international community has mobilized more than US$2.5 billion to advance the food-climate agenda. With more than 130 countries endorsing the "COP28 UAE Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action," the initiative represents a collective commitment from nations that are home to 70% of the world's population, a total of 5.7 billion people, and 500 million farmers who are responsible for 76% of greenhouse gas emissions from the global food system.

The Declaration advocates actions to be taken by participating countries by 2025 to promote sustainable development of the food and agriculture sector and strengthen the response to climate change in five areas, including promoting innovation to increase sustainable productivity and expanding all forms of resource mobilization.

In addition, the UAE and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have jointly launched a $200 million partnership for Food Systems, Agriculture Innovation and Climate Action. This initiative aims to fund agricultural research, deploy innovative agricultural practices, and provide technical assistance in line with the goals outlined in the Declaration.

As part of the COP28 program, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) will host a seminar titled Accelerating application of climate-smart and resilient agricultural technologies within Asia-Monsoon countries. JIRCAS will actively participate in the seminar by presenting an overview of the Green Asia Project and collaborative research on BNI-enhanced wheat with Nepalese researchers.
 

Contributors: FUNAKI Yasuro (Social Sciences Division), YOSHIHASHI Tadashi (Biological Resources and Post-harvest Division), IIYAMA Miyuki (Information Program)