Juliana Arciniegas is a former negotiator of climate and environmental treaties from Colombia. She currently leads the Nature agenda at the Latin American Think-Tank Transforma.

With Brazil – a global leader in addressing hunger and home to the largest share of the Amazon rainforest – hosting COP30, hopes have been running high that food system transformation will finally be central to the UN climate negotiations. 

Held in the city of Belém, gateway to the Amazon, the summit places the climate-nature nexus in the spotlight, as leaders make decisions that will shape the future of the rainforest and communities they are guests of.

Yet food systems, the biggest driver of deforestation and responsible for around one-third of global emissions, have once again been sidelined. Despite being highly vulnerable to climate change, they also hold immense potential for keeping climate change in check. Overlooking them is not just a missed opportunity for Brazil to reinforce its leadership, it risks undermining critical initiatives like forest protection. 

Why, then, has one of the most powerful climate solutions been left off the agenda for COP30, recently set out by president-designate André Aranha Corrêa do Lago?

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Broken food system

Worldwide, countries are facing the consequences of a broken food system which is fuelling the climate crisis threatening food production. Our current system feeds the profits of food giants while leaving family farmers struggling, consumers facing rising food costs and governments having to answer to it. This will continue unabated under business as usual. 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is unambiguous. Its Sixth Assessment Report stated that climate change has already reduced food security, and will increasingly put pressure on food production and access, especially in vulnerable regions.

The world’s agricultural sector is a climate culprit, as well as a casualty. Not only does it produce 30% of anthropogenic emissions, agriculture is also responsible for up to 80% of tropical deforestation around the world. There is simply no way to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement without dramatic reductions in emissions from agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU).

The good news is the sector also holds vast potential. Practices like agroforestry, biochar, crop diversification, reduced tillage, and sustainable fertiliser use could reduce some 10-12 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year and shave 0.3°C off peak warming.

Support for family farmers

Brazil is acting on some of these challenges. During its G20 presidency, it launched the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty. At COP28, it co-founded the Alliance of Champions for Food Systems Transformation. This year, it is set to establish the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, which promises to generate transformative funding to tackle deforestation. Nonetheless, if COP30 does not address the role of food and farming in driving this deforestation, it risks treating the symptom, not the disease.

COP president do Lago has, rightfully, emphasised the need to elevate adaptation as a priority at the climate talks. Family farmers are key to this: they are critical to global supply chains and hold the solutions to ensuring food security in a changing climate.

However, within the current system, they often lack the finance and political backing to do so. In 2021-22, just 14% ($1.3 billion) of international public climate finance for agriculture and land use was targeted at small-scale farmers.

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This is another area where Brazil is taking action. Last year, President Lula da Silva launched a National Plan for Agroecology and Organic Production which, among other things, helps family farmers become more climate-resilient.

Do Lago is clear on the need for COP30 to deliver. “Words and text must be translated into actual practice and transformations on the ground,” he writes. What does this mean for food and farming?

Financing for sustainable agriculture

First, Andrea do Lago has rightly highlighted the importance of the Global Stocktake (GST) to shift gear from agreements to action. Building on food system transformation goals from the first GST in 2023, Belem should see countries and non-state actors decide on a roadmap, with guiding options and economic incentives, to support national efforts to transition to sustainable agricultural practices.

Second, COP30 must define concrete measures for countries to achieve the GST goal to halt and reverse forest degradation by 2030, in line with the UN biodiversity targets. This must include support for countries to tackle specific causes of deforestation including agriculture, mining and infrastructure.

Third, with countries due to submit their new action plans – NDCs – by September 2025, these need to include targets, timetables and funds to transform their national food systems. They aren’t starting from scratch – at COP28 over 150 countries signed up to the Emirates Food Systems Declaration with measures such as reducing AFOLU emissions, access to healthy and sustainable diets, and putting farmers at the heart of implementation.

Fourth, COP30 is a pivotal moment to bridge the climate finance gap. Brazil has consistently urged wealthier nations to fund developing countries’ adaptation and transition to sustainable agriculture. The Baku-to-Belém roadmap from COP29 must show progress in mobilising at least $1.3 trillion a year by 2035 and allocating specific funds for nature and sustainable food systems. The financial policies discussed at the climate talks must align with fair trade, tariffs, and subsidies that incentivise ecosystem protection and support farmers and local communities.

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Against a backdrop of tense geopolitics and international aid spending being slashed, it’s more important than ever that leaders recognise the importance of investing in a global sustainable food system to safeguard national priorities.

A transformed system that addresses malnutrition, properly compensates farmers, improves productivity, and protects the environment could deliver net economic benefits of US$5-10 trillion annually. With deep expertise in addressing hunger, supporting family farmers and stewardship of the Amazon, Brazil is uniquely positioned to seize the opportunity for COP30 to inspire a food system revolution – an ecological imperative and economic necessity for us all.

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Food systems are the missing ingredient from the COP30 menu