How to turn the food system from a driver of climate change into an accelerator of climate action

The global food system contributes nearly one-third of greenhouse gas emissions and 90% of deforestation, creating a cycle where climate change drives food insecurity. To address this, the author proposes scaling regenerative production, switching to healthier plant-based diets, restoring nature, and reducing food loss and waste. These efforts are being promoted through the UAE presidency's Food Systems & Agriculture Agenda and a Call to Action for stakeholders to commit to transformation by 2030.

• The global food industry is a major driver of environmental degradation, accounting for nearly 30% of greenhouse gas emissions and 90% of deforestation.
• The author proposes four primary solutions to transform the food system: adopting regenerative agro-ecological farming to protect soil and biodiversity; shifting toward plant-based diets to reduce climate impact and improve health; protecting nature to provide up to one-third of the emissions reductions needed by 2030 for the 1.5C goal; and reducing food loss and waste.
• Significant inefficiencies exist in the food system, where 13% of food is lost between harvest and retail and 17% is wasted globally.
• Gender inequality impacts food productivity; for instance, providing female-headed households in southern Ethiopia with resources equal to male-headed households could increase maize productivity by more than 40%.

APA

Al Mubarak, R. (2023). How to turn the food system from a driver of climate change into an accelerator of climate action. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/how-and-why-a-healthier-food-system-can-feed-people-and-boost-health-and-climate-outcomes/

Chicago

Al Mubarak, Razan. How to turn the food system from a driver of climate change into an accelerator of climate action. World Economic Forum, 2023. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/how-and-why-a-healthier-food-system-can-feed-people-and-boost-health-and-climate-outcomes/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Al Mubarak |first1=Razan |title=How to turn the food system from a driver of climate change into an accelerator of climate action |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=30 November 2023 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/how-and-why-a-healthier-food-system-can-feed-people-and-boost-health-and-climate-outcomes/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{almubarak2023how, author = {Al Mubarak, Razan}, title = {{How to turn the food system from a driver of climate change into an accelerator of climate action}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2023}, month = nov, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/how-and-why-a-healthier-food-system-can-feed-people-and-boost-health-and-climate-outcomes/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }