COP28 Daily Digest: Everything You Need To Know in Food and Climate News – Day 10

Welcome to Day 10 of #COP28 – the first ever official day dedicated to food systems in the history of the summit. In Green Queen’s COP28 Daily Digest, our editorial team curates the must-reads, the must-bookmarks and the must-knows from around the interwebs to help you ‘skim the overwhelm’.

Catch up: DAY 1 – DAY 2 – DAYS 3 & 4 – DAY 5 – DAY 6 – DAY 7 – REST DAY – DAY 8 – DAY 9

Headlines You Need To Know

The COP-related news you cannot miss.

AZERBAIJAN CONFIRMED AS COP29 HOST: After a period of uncertainty, Azerbaijan has emerged as the winner of the host bid for COP29 next year, with Armenia retracting its bid and agreeing to back its rival nation. But climate activists are likely to criticise the fact that another ‘petro-state’ country will once again host the UN climate summit.

152 COUNTRIES BACK THE COP28 AGRIFOOD DECLARATION: A week after 134 countries signed the UAE Declaration on Agriculture, Food Systems and Climate Action, that number has risen to 152, announced UAE climate minister and COP28 food systems lead Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri.

CHINA BACKS RENEWABLE ENERGY, BUT REMAINS COY ON FOSSIL FUEL PHASEOUT: China’s climate envoy Xie Zhenhua has said the country would like to see nations agree to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy but hasn’t confirmed whether the nation would support or oppose a fossil fuel phaseout entirely.

SAUDI ARABIA TAKES AIM AT WIND & SOLAR ENERGY: Fossil fuel giant Saudi Arabia is calling on countries to take action against wind and solar power, which it claims are increasingly threatening the climate due to their ‘life-cycle’ GHG emissions. It’s also one of the countries blocking the recommendation for a full fossil fuel phaseout.

‘HIGH-AMBITION’ FOOD COALITION FOUNDED: The Alliance of Champions for Food Systems Transformation has been launched, with Brazil, Sierra Leone and Norway as co-chairs and prominent members including Rwanda and Cambodia. The goal for the “high ambition coalition for food” is to boost national visions and food systems transformation pathways consistent with science-based targets in 10 priority areas.

COP28 RELEASES STATEMENT ON CLIMATE, NATURE & PEOPLE: The COP28 and UNCBD COP15 presidencies have released a Joint Statement on Climate, Nature & People to align climate action to deliver the highest impact in as short a time as possible. Objectives include scaling up climate finance, equitable representation, and coherence in data collection and voluntary reporting frameworks.

NATURE FINANCE HUB LAUNCHED TO MOBILISE $100B IN CLIMATE FINANCING: The Asian Development Bank, the OPEC Fund, Agence Française de Développement, and the Saudi Fund for Development have launched the Nature Finance Hub to mobilise $1B from development partners, and an additional $2 B in private capital by 2030 for nature-centric climate projects.

$100M INITIATIVE AIMS TO PROTECT LAND & MARINE AREAS IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Papua New Guinea has announced a $100M initiative with public and private sector partners to protect 30% of its land and marine areas, halt forest loss and promote sustainable development and inclusive rural transformation by 2030.

Key #COP28 Reports

The food and climate reports you need to know about today.

FAO publishes agrifood roadmap to 1.5°C: The FAO has published the much-awaited first instalment of its hugely anticipated roadmap to cut food and agriculture emissions, with 120 actions recommended to meet 20 key targets – albeit with little detail on how they will be achieved. Measures include cutting livestock methane emissions by 25% by 2030 and halving food waste by 2030. It acknowledged the need to change diets to reduce meat and dairy emissions but said that plant-based foods can’t be an adequate source of certain nutrients. Plus, only the FAO’s website (and not the report) calls on higher-income countries to cut their consumption. In fact, the report says meat production needs to be ramped up to address health challenges in poorer nations.

Brazilian meat giants linked to widespread Amazon deforestation: Three Brazilian meat producers – JBS, Marfrig and Minerva – have been connected to over half a million hectares of deforestation in the Amazon in a new report by Mighty Earth. The farms where land was felled supply to 36 slaughterhouses belonging to these companies, and the total area is 156 times the size of COP28 host Dubai.

Africa needs a new livestock narrative: The result of a collaborative effort between multiple organizations, a new report outlines a new livestock narrative for Africa, arguing that existing perspectives fail to recognise the role of livestock in the continent’s livelihood, nutrition and capacity for climate change adaptation.

Migration as climate change adaptation: The FAO published a study exploring migration as an adaptation measure for climate change in the Near East and North Africa, highlighting how farmers are forced to relocate due to climate events and crop productivity issues. Growth-centric economic and farming policies further undermine sustainable resource management and facilitate maladaptive practices.

Food access for migrant workers in the Gulf: Middle Eastern investigative journalists and Fairsquare have penned a report outlining the disparities in access to quality, nutritious food for migrant workers in the UAE. It also assesses the wider impact of the country’s food supply chain practices on the climate, as well as vulnerable populations globally.

Recommendations for COP28 investment and innovation: The Innovation Commission for Climate Change, Food Security and Agriculture has made a seven-point case for innovation and investment at COP28, covering improved weather forecasts, rainwater harvesting training, microbial fertilisers, cutting livestock methane emissions, digital agriculture, climate-resilient social protection, and alt-protein.

Awesome Resources From Media Friends

A curation of our favourite reads of the day – excellent guides, explainers and op-eds from around the web.

Much-needed climate finance rolling in: Writing for Bloomberg, Agnieszka de Sousa outlines that the badly needed money for food-related climate solutions is starting to trickle in, with billions secured in pledges at COP28.

All talk, no action: Arguing for the contrary, RTE’s George Lee writes that there’s plenty of talk at COP28, but nobody seems to want to actually pay – summing up the rollercoaster of a summit this has been.

Around the world to save the country: In a story that’s equal parts hopeful and terrifying, BBC climate reporter Georgina Rannard profiles Mervina Paueli, a negotiator from Tuvalu who has travelled 8,000 miles to save her home country at COP28.

Lighter Green Fun

Funny stuff, weird stuff, random stuff related to COP you may enjoy.

SMOG28: Pretty ironic that people at a climate summit can’t breathe because of the air pollution. Axios reporters have been feeling like their lungs are on fire due to the smog in Dubai, which is not great, to say the least. Looks like it’s not just the alternative protein industry’s opinion that’s suffocating.

Green Mr COP: A 10-year-old boy from Abu Dhabi has transformed his old toy car into a robot traversing Dubai’s Expo City as a green crusader named ‘Mr Cop’. This is exactly the generation we need to save the planet for.

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