Events, Systems Thinking

COP26 events: Food systems transformation on the agenda

Informed by our 7 Calls to Action and acting on our mission to advance the case for food systems transformation, the Global Alliance for the Future of Food is pleased to be part of the following in-person and virtual sessions at this year’s climate #COP26 negotiations. Please find a Slide Deck and survey that will be presented at several of the Global Alliance’s events: 

HOW CAN WE DELIVER THE CLIMATE-RESILIENT, SUSTAINABLE AND HEALTHY DIETS OF THE FUTURE?
Tuesday, 02 November 2021 | 14:15 – 15:15 GMT
Location: Blue Zone – Health Pavilion and via Livestream
Register

This event will explore climate and health solutions that deliver a ‘farm to mouth’ food system that benefits human health, reduces environmental impacts, and is resilient to ongoing climate change. It will bring a range of civil society voices into the Blue Zone, offering diverse perspectives on the issues from around the world. 

Patty Fong from the Global Alliance for the Future of Food will be a guest speaker. The event is co-hosted by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health), Health and Climate Network, and the World Obesity Federation. Please find the Global Alliance’s Slide Deck and survey that will be presented at this event. 

HEALTH IN NDCS: BUILDING A FUTURE FOR PEOPLE AND THE PLANET
Tuesday, 02 November 2021 | 18:15 – 19:15 GMT
Location: Blue Zone – Health Pavilion

This session will cover the Global Climate and Health Alliance (GCHA) Healthy NDC Scorecard and examples of progress being made by different countries in the categories assessed in the Scorecard. It seeks to raise awareness of how and why health considerations can be included in NDCs, and discuss the transition from commitment to implementation.

Patty Fong from the Global Alliance for the Future of Food will be a guest speaker. The event is co-hosted by Global Climate and Health Alliance. Please find the Global Alliance’s Slide Deck and survey that will be presented at this event. 

GROWING THE MOMENTUM FOR AGROECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION TO RESILIENT FOOD SYSTEMS
Saturday, 06 November 2021 | 18:00 – 19:00 GMT
Location: Hybrid – Bute Hall
Register

The plenary will link the 13 agroecological principles from the CFS HLPE (2019) report, the CFS policy recommendations on agroecological and other innovative approaches and the coalition on transforming food systems through agroecology emerging from the UN Food Systems Summit with the imperative to reduce the contribution that agriculture makes to global warming while adapting to effects of climate change. The focus will be on prioritizing actions to effect agroecological transitions and ensuring inclusivity and equity of agency amongst all actors in food systems. Patty Fong, Global Alliance for the Future of Food, will be a guest speaker.

FINANCING THE FUTURE: WHAT’S NEXT FOR PHILANTHROPY
Sunday, 07 November 2021 | 17:15 – 18:15 GMT
Location: Food and Climate Zone by Nourish Scotland and via Livestream
Register

This session will explore the ways in which philanthropy can help translate commitments made at global, national, and regional forums – like the UN Food Systems Summit and COP26, and others – from words and into action. Philanthropy spends billions on issue areas that are implicitly connected to food systems such as environment, nature conversation, climate, health, nutrition, human rights, and sustainable development but food systems issues are seldom explicitly addressed in funding strategies. Will 2021 prove to be the year when all that changed? 

Join us in person and via Livestream. In-person spaces are limited so please register in advance.

The event is co-hosted by Food Tank and the Global Alliance for the Future of Food. It is a part of a series of events being hosted at the Nourish Scotland pavilion, which will feature an Exclusive Film Screening of The Ants and the Grasshopper.  

USING INVESTMENT AND TRUE COST ACCOUNTING AS LEVERS FOR FOOD SYSTEMS CHANGE | TWO PARTS
Monday, 08 November 2021 | 12:30 – 13:30 GMT
Location: Blue Zone – Rockefeller Pavilion
Register

This session (in person and streaming) will explore investment and True Cost Accounting (TCA) as powerful tools that can redirect capital flows toward food systems that are nourishing, regenerative and equitable. Panellists will discuss the importance of investment and TCA and what it will take to unlock their power to propel transformed food systems. The food system is unhealthy, unsustainable, and inequitable, creating more costs than it creates in economic value. 

Part 1: Using True Cost Accounting to Shift Policy, Behavior, and Investment
Panellists will present the opportunity to use True Cost Accounting (TCA), a tool that measures the true cost of food, including its impact on human and environmental health as a way to shift policy, behaviour, and investment. The event is co-hosted by Food Tank, Rockefeller, and WWF. Ruth Richardson, Executive Director, Global Alliance for the Future of Food will be a guest speaker. 

Part 2: Investment and Finance for Healthy and Sustainable Diets
Today, capital flows to the food system regardless of the degree to which it is produced and processed in ways that damage the environment and contribute to climate change. Panellists will explore how finance and investment can be redirected to make food systems more environmentally sustainable, nourishing, and socially just. Speakers include Rex Raimond, Director for Transformational Investing in Food Systems (TIFS) Initiative, Barbara Buchner, Senior Director of Climate Policy Initiative, Peter Bakker, President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Petra Hans, Head of Agricultural Livelihoods at the IKEA Foundation,  Maria Lettini, Executive Director of FAIRR Initiative, Eivind Lorgen, Chair of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, and more to be announced soon.

Take a look at  True Value: Revealing the Positive Impacts of Food Systems Transformation in advance.

HEALTHY AND SUSTAINABLE DIETS AS A SOLUTION TO THE CLIMATE CRISIS
Monday, 08 November 2021 | 15:00 PM – 16:30 GMT
Location: Blue Zone – Rockefeller Pavilion
Register

This event will elevate the many ways that we can serve people and the planet through food. It will draw on the solutions that straddle nutrition and sustainability and elevate how healthy and sustainable diets can address the world’s most pressing challenges. Patty Fong from the Global Alliance for the Future of Food will be a guest speaker. The event is co-hosted by Food Tank, Rockefeller, and WWF.

Take a look at Systemic Solutions for Healthy Food Systems, a guide for governments to take action for better food systems, in advance. 

ADDRESSING FINANCIAL AND CAPACITY BARRIERS FOR CLIMATE RESILIENCE IN LMICs
Tuesday, 09 November 2021 | 11.30 – 12.45 GMT
Location: Blue Zone – UNFCCC event space
Details about how to register

LMIC countries, on the frontline of climate impacts, have inherent strengths, vast adaptive capacity and opportunities for climate-resilient development. Effective adaptation actions require collective mindsets, investments at scale and the adoption of proven, locally-led, inclusive approaches.

This event, co-organized by SNV, Govt of the Netherlands, NDC Partnership, Global Alliance for the Future of Food, Panafrican Climate Justice Alliance and CGIAR research centres, will bring together policymakers, the private sector and NGOs to share proven best practices for climate change adaptation are locally inclusive and have the potential for scaling. Patty Fong, Global Alliance for the Future of Food, will be a guest speaker. 

LINKING FOOD AND CLIMATE TO SPUR TRANSFORMATIVE ACTION
Tuesday, 09 November 2021 | 19:00 – 22:00 GMT
Location: Glasgow Marriott Hotel

Patty Fong from the Global Alliance for the Future of Food will be a guest speaker. The event is co-hosted by 50×40 and EAT.  

DEVELOPMENT & CLIMATE DAYS (TWO DAY EVENT)
Day 1: Tuesday, 09 November 2021 | 8:30 – 10:30 GMT
Day 2: Wednesday, 10 November 2021 | 12:00 – 13:30 GMT
Location: Online
Register

A two-day digital event spanning multiple time zones that aims to be the most inclusive D&C Days event yet. The sessions will bring together those working at the frontline of sustainable development and climate agendas – grassroots representatives, researchers, development practitioners, and policymakers from across the world – to discuss how to work together to build a climate-resilient future for all. These sessions are co-hosted by the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, the FAO, and Nourish Scotland.

Session 1: How can we transform food and agriculture systems through locally-led climate-friendly and nature-positive solutions? 8:30 – 10:30 AM GMT

This session will explore how locally-led nature-positive solutions including agroecology can also help communities adapt to the reality of a changing climate, and improve their food security and health, thereby contributing to resilience, food sovereignty, and economic empowerment. Moderated by Patty Fong, Global Alliance for the Future of Food, panellists include: Laifolo Dakishoni, Soils, Food, Healthy Communities (Malawi); Dale Lewis, COMACO (Zambia); Mary Nyale, Farm Africa (Kenya); Chemuku Wekesa, Kenya Forestry Research Institute (Kenya); Cris Panerio, MASIPAG (Philippines); Yiching Song, Farmer Seed Network (China); and Denise Walton, Peelham Farm (Scotland).

Session 2: Governance for climate action in the food system: what is the role of NDCs and local dialogues? 12:00 – 13:30 pm GMT

This session will share insights from the GA’s NDC assessment with a focus on stakeholder engagement practices and highlight the voices of the many unheard peoples whose local knowledge is often overlooked in the search for new ways of producing, processing, and consuming food. Moderated by Pete Ritchie, Nourish Scotland (UK), panellists include: Haseeb Bakhtary, Climate Focus (Germany); Elujulo Opeyemi, Youth for Environment (Nigeria);  Joan Jamisolamin, Samdhana Institute, (Philippines); Tokiana Rakotonirainy, Milan Urban Food Policy Pact Focal Point, (Madagascar); and Carmen Serra, Mexico City (Mexico).

Take a look at Global Alliance’s Slide Deck and survey in advance of these sessions. 

BALANCING NATURE RESTORATION (OR CARBON SEQUESTRATION), BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION, AND HEALTHY DIETS FOR ALL
Wednesday, 10 November 2021 | Session 1: 11:30 – 12:30 GMT | Session 2: 13:00 – 14:00 GMT
Location: Blue Zone – WWF Panda Pavilion and via Livestream 

Session 1: The role of what we eat in a 1.5oC future
Register

This event will examine the critical link between Diets, Climate, and Nature in achieving a 1.5°C future. These agendas are inextricably linked, and their success or failure ultimately depends on the extent to which the right balance is found. Patty Fong from the Global Alliance for the Future of Food will be a guest speaker. 

Session 2: Mobilizing finance to address climate risk and restore biodiversity while ensuring healthy diets for all
Register

This event will bring together stakeholders from the world of finance, investment, civil society, and food production to discuss how the public and private sectors can work together to mobilize finance to address climate risk and restore biodiversity while ensuring healthy diets for all. The event is co-hosted by Consumer International, FAIRR, Food Tank, GAIN, UN Nutrition, WBCSD, and WWF.

If you are a journalist covering COP26, Global Alliance spokespeople are available for comment and interviews. Please contact:
Kasia Murphy, Communications Director
E: Kasia@futureoffood.org
M: +34 676607 605