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More countries recognize the need to reform their food systems to align with the global heating limits of the Paris Agreement.
But doing so could lead to trade-offs that harm public health, animal welfare and ecosystems. SEI Scientist Cleo Verkuijl calls for an integrated approach through the One Health lens, along with Marcel Beukeboom, Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the FAO, and Floor de Bont, One Health Advisor at the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands to the FAO.
Broad scientific consensus agrees that greenhouse gas emissions from the food sector, and animal agriculture specifically, must be curbed if the world is to limit warming to 1.5°C.
More than 150 countries pledged to incorporate food system reforms to their Nationally Determined Contributions, due to be communicated under the international climate process over the next year. And the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is soon expected to unveil a global strategy to eliminate hunger without exceeding the 1.5°C temperature limit.
But solutions must consider more than greenhouse gas emissions.
In the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s SDG Knowledge Hub, SEI’s Cleo Verkuijl and two representatives of the Government of the Netherlands argue for a One Health approach: one that encompasses not only climate and food security, but also public health, animal welfare and the wider environment.
Project / The world’s appetite for animal products continues to grow, with profound implications for the environment, human health and animal welfare.
Perspective / From sanitation to food systems, improved Nationally Determined Contributions can unlock untapped climate action, say SEI experts.
Other publication / A Comment in Nature Food details the shortfalls in the FAO's food systems roadmap to eliminate hunger without breaching the 1.5°C climate change threshold.
Journal article / The authors examine seven common strategies for feeding everyone with a smaller carbon footprint and analyse each for their consequences and benefits.
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