We are living in a perfect storm, brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the conflict in Ukraine and the triple planetary crisis. This storm is undermining decades of progress and threatening the Sustainable Development Goals.
Conflict-related disruption to key grains has pushed food prices 34 per cent higher than last year. The pandemic increased the number of hungry people by 100 million. The triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss and pollution and waste is causing disruption across the globe.
Our food systems are part of the problem. Just seven agricultural commodities caused 26 per cent of tree cover loss from 2001 to 2015. This same narrow focus on certain commodities contributes to food price shocks. Meanwhile, unsustainable food production practices produce around one-third of greenhouse gas emissions.
Friends, the only way to resist this perfect storm is to be united and coordinated in our response.
In the short-term, we need quick action and multilateral collaboration to feed hungry people. In the long-term, we need transformational change that addresses the underlying drivers of agricultural push into pristine nature; food system related climate impacts; and food system-related chemical pollution and run-off.
UNEP is working on the food systems transformation through a multi-pronged approach – including One Health, nutrition, food waste, and regenerative and resilient agriculture. A key enabling condition for this work is sustainable finance.
Global financing for nature and biodiversity is far below what we need. Annual governmental expenditures on harmful subsidies are up to four times higher than capital flows towards biodiversity conservation. The World Food Summit is an opportunity to reverse the polarity of financial flows from both public and private sources – with tackling deforestation a major goal. Today, I would like to highlight five areas that can help make this happen.
The first is demonstrating that financing deforestation-free value chains is economically viable.
The three largest sectors that depend highly on nature – construction, agriculture and food and beverages – are profiting now. But they stand to lose the most from the long-term destruction of nature. On the other hand, a new nature economy could generate USD 10 trillion in business value and create 395 million jobs by 2030.
For this reason, UNEP is partnering with the banking sector and countries to move capital towards sustainable agriculture and averting deforestation. Through Dutch support for example, the Dutch partner is committed to issuing USD 1 billion in loans to farmers and corporate clients by 2025 through the AGRI3 Fund. In Brazil, this mechanism is already driving forest protection and the renovation of degraded pastureland in Mato Grosso.
Deforestation-free value chains are viable.
The second area is standardizing environmental and social impact indicators.
There are good examples of such work. The EU Taxonomy on Sustainable Finance provides clarity on what kinds of business activities are sustainable and has a mandatory disclosure requirement. The Climate Bonds Initiative has put in place standards for sustainable agriculture and forestry investments.
UNEP has been working on standardized Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs, with banks and impact investors. These KPIs measure positive climate, forest, biodiversity and livelihood impacts – creating the foundation for an alternative asset class for deforestation-free assets.
Ensuring the economic value of carbon is priced in our global economy is also vital. UNEP is working on the Green Gigaton Challenge to seek more corporate commitments and establish minimum prices for forest carbon.
The third area is creating additional revenue streams for forest ecosystem services through regulatory efforts and initiatives.
Important tracking has already been established through the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosure. A similar effort for nature was launched last year – the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures. Both can accelerate sustainable commodity supply chains by pricing in the risks of failing to account for nature and climate.
The fourth area is to deal with food loss and waste
If food waste and loss were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of GHG emissions in the world. Methane while a a very potent greenhouse gas lasts in the atmosphere only 12 years, compared to carbon dioxide which is around much longer. If we lean in and reduce methane emissions for agriculture, we have a quick win for climate mitigation.
And my final point deals with diets
In some countries we over consume meat-based proteins, in others we under consume. We need to think about and have an honest conversation about how we get our proteins. We also know that poor diet is a leading cause of death worldwide, so flexible diets in wealthier countries will be critical.
Friends, through action in these five areas, we can galvanize political and business momentum to restore our earth.
Now we need to push on.
At the many summits this year, we need to build political and business momentum to address the climate, nature and land degradation emergencies head on.
The outcomes of today’s World Food Summit can pave the way for successful negotiations at these summits. It can promote government and corporate leadership.
And this leadership, dear friends, is needed now more than ever.
Thank you.
