The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released the AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023, a comprehensive summary of five years’ worth of research outcomes. The report once again sounds the alarm on the significance of global food systems for climate change.

According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), more than 30 percent of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions originate from the world’s agri-food systems. The new IPCC report underscores the need for substantive transformation of food and agricultural systems worldwide in order to avert the worst consequences of the climate crisis.

The report highlights that increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather and climate events have exposed millions of people to food and water insecurity, leading to decreased agricultural productivity and billions of dollars in annual damages to ecosystems. Small-scale farmers, peasants, pastoralists, fisherfolk, and other rural populations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Small Islands, and the Arctic bear the brunt of these impacts.

Million Belay, a member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) and the General Coordinator for the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, emphasizes that small-scale farmers in the Global South, who are hit first and hardest by climate change, are not responsible for causing this crisis. He calls for urgent support, climate finance, and comprehensive debt relief for the world’s poorest countries to enable them to build resilient and diversified food systems.

The IPCC report repeatedly emphasizes that the cost of prevention is significantly lower than the cost of adaptation and disaster management. Bronson Griscom, Vice President of Natural Climate Solutions for Conservation International, states the economic benefits of taking action now to combat climate change are undeniable. The challenge lies in securing the upfront financing required to avoid even greater costs in the future. There are few rational arguments against implementing these measures any longer.

The report asserts that solutions to the climate crisis are known and readily available; what is needed is their effective implementation. The IPCC recommends several notable mitigation measures related to food systems, including improved forest, cropland, and grassland management, as well as reductions in food waste and loss. It highlights that reducing tropical deforestation holds the greatest potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions compared to any other singular solution across sectors. In terms of adapting agri-systems, the report suggests approaches such as agroforestry, community-based adaptation, farm and landscape diversification, and urban agriculture.

The report underscores the importance of recognizing and valuing the knowledge and practices of Indigenous Peoples and other traditional knowledge holders who have successfully sustained themselves with limited resources for thousands of years. The authors stress the need to incorporate these alternative knowledge systems, acknowledging that Indigenous worldviews are vital for developing locally appropriate and socially acceptable solutions.

The AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023 is the fifth synthesis report released by the IPCC since its establishment in 1988, following previous reports in 1990, 1995, 2001, 2007, and 2014. Different versions of the current report can be accessed on the IPCC website, offering various lengths and levels of detail.