Towards sustainable food to fight climate change

Sustainable food

On 8 August, the IPCC published its new report ” Climate change and Land ” on land use*. This report clearly establishes the link between climate change and our food systems. On the one hand, climate change has an impact on our food security, and on the other hand, our food choices are decisive in combating this change. A report that supports the vision we have within the Foundation, through our “Sustainable Food” axis.

Sustainable food in demand again

Soil, an essential resource

As a source of 23% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions linked to human activities, agriculture and livestock farming are both responsible for and victims of climate change. The IPCC report describes a vicious cycle**: land degradation reduces its ability to store carbon, which worsens climate change, which in turn exacerbates land degradation.

” The report shows that sustainable soil management would help us cope with climate change ,” says Hans-Otto Pörtner, an ecologist and climatologist and co-chair of the IPCC’s Working Group II. Valérie Masson-Delmotte, paleoclimatologist and co-chair of IPCC Working Group I, cites a series of solutions, including agroecology, agroforestry, the diversity of plant and forest species, organic farming, etc.

Sustainable food at the heart of the climate

The IPCC also shows that changes in our food choices are needed: ” Balanced diets rich in plant-based foods such as coarse grains, pulses, fruits and vegetables, and foods of animal origin that are sustainably produced in low-greenhouse gas emission systems offer good opportunities for adapting to and limiting climate change ” says Debra Roberts, co-chair of IPCC Working Group II.

A necessary transition

These findings reinforce the assessment we draw up at the Foundation, according to which our food has an impact on our entire current ecosystem: from biodiversity loss, to global warming and inequality.

Our actions

Through our Sustainable Food axis, we advocate an agroecological, solidarity and democratic approach. Through the projects we support, in France and Spain, we strive to bring out more sustainable practices, to allow access for all to healthy food, respectful of people and ecosystems and to accelerate the transition.

” After the alarm signals sounded in recent years by most scientific bodies (IPBES, United Nations, various national institutes) on global soil degradation, on the fall in biodiversity, on the degradation of health, scientists are once again in favour of agroecology and sustainable food. All data should push human societies towards a massive and rapid transformation aimed at healthy food, respectful of people and ecosystems. We know that such a transformation is necessary. Our partners show every day that it is possible, and how to carry it out. We see no good reason to wait. ” explains Guilhem Soutou, head of the Foundation’s Sustainable Food Axis.

Impact initiatives

In the face of the climate emergency, inspiring, demonstrative and replicable actions on the ground are essential. Their diversity and richness are all avenues for initiating this in-depth transformation of the societies that we are calling for.

Since 2010, we have supported many initiatives that work in this direction in France and Spain:

both at the production level with the Tricyclerie which recovers nutrients from cities to enrich the soil, the GRAB Avignon which manages a pilot farm in agro-ecology La Durette, Agroof which reconciles the requirements of productivity and respect for biodiversity; The Andalusian Seed Network, which promotes the consumption of fruit and vegetable varieties that are more resistant to climate change. Also worth mentioning is the work of the Pau Costa Foundation, which encourages grazing in forest areas to prevent fires, and promotes the marketing of meat from this sustainable production system, in the territory where it was produced, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere as much as possible.
that in the middle of the chain through Noé Conservation , which seeks to make French agricultural sectors real levers for ecosystem restoration; or the Emys Foundation , which supports producers in the conservation models of the territory and in the local marketing of their products
in terms of consumption with the Nicolas Hulot Foundation and in particular the “Mon Restau Responsable” project which offers collective restaurants a sustainable supply to feed better and waste less, Health Care Without Harm which reconciles quality care with a sustainable food strategy within hospitals; or the project of school canteens in Pamplona kindergartens or the Chef2020 network that promote sustainable diets in terms of health and the environment
or on these 3 levels at the same time with the Biovallée , which is setting up, at the level of a territory, a governance system offering all stakeholders, from producer to consumer, the possibility of interacting to progress together towards a more sustainable local agricultural and agri-food system; or the Territorialised Food Systems projects which, in Spain, encourage the collaboration of civil society and the administration in the definition of territorialised food policies

*Dedicated to ” Climate Change, Desertification, Land Degradation, Sustainable Land Management, Food Security and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Terrestrial Ecosystems “.

** Source: IPCC press release of 8 August 2019

We invite you to learn more about some of these inspiring initiatives for more sustainable agriculture and food through our Initiatives Notebooks :

2019 – The Transition in Action

2017 – The Transition in Action

Our “Learning” notebooks:

2019 – Territorialized food systems

And on our social networks.

To go further:

The IPCC report

Our Sustainable Food Foundation Publications

Sources:

IPCC press release of 8 August 2019

WWF Living Planet Report

IPBES Reports