Towards sustainable food to fight climate change

Sustainable food

On August 8, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its new report “Climate change and Land” on sustainable soil management*. This report clearly establishes the link between climate change and our food systems. On the one hand, climate change affects food systems through changes in agricultural productivity, water availability and the nutritional quality of food, with important implications for our food security. On the other hand, food systems have an impact on climate change through greenhouse gas emissions from food production, distribution and consumption and, at the same time, a great potential for mitigation. Our choices in terms of food are therefore decisive for acting in a situation of climate emergency and social justice at a global level. This report supports the vision that we have in the Foundation from our axis of “Sustainable Food”.

Sustainable food, plebiscite

Soils, a vital resource

Agriculture and livestock, sources of 23% of greenhouse gas emissions linked to human activities, are both responsible for and victims of climate change. The IPCC report describes a vicious circle**: land degradation reduces their capacity to store carbon, which is released into the atmosphere, which exacerbates climate change, which in turn has a negative impact on land degradation.”
The report shows that sustainable soil management would help us to tackle climate change,” says Hans-Otto Pörtner, ecologist and climatologist, co-chair of IPCC Working Group II. Valérie Masson-Delmotte, paleoclimatologist, co-chair of IPCC Working Group I, cites a number of solutions including agroecology, agroforestry, plant and forest species diversity and organic farming

Sustainable food at the heart of change

The IPCC also shows that changes are needed in our food choices: “A balanced diet rich in plant-based foods such as coarse grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables, and animal-based foods produced sustainably within low-greenhouse gas emission systems, offer good possibilities for adaptation and mitigation to climate change,” explains Debra Roberts, co-chair of IPCC Working Group II.

A necessary transition

These findings reinforce the balance that we have made at the Foundation, according to which our diet has an impact on our entire ecosystem: from the loss of biodiversity to global warming, through the growth of inequalities and the deterioration of our health.

Our actions

Through our Sustainable Food axis, we promote a sustainable, supportive and democratic approach. We strive to bring more sustainable practices to life and promote access for all to healthy food, respectful of people and ecosystems, in order to accelerate the transition through the projects we support in France and Spain.

“In recent years, warning signals from international organizations about the consequences of climate change have managed to reach society at large. Agriculture in Spain is looking for solutions to maintain its production in the face of the already real effects of climate change. This reaction must be extended to the entire food sector and to society in general – as a consumer of food – to be effective. The initiatives we support point to some of the ways that can be taken to accelerate the absolutely necessary process of change towards a sustainable food system, which participates in the fight against climate change. We already have proposals, spaces and tools to act. Let’s act now!” explains Eva Torremocha, head of the Sustainable Food area in Spain.

Impact initiatives

In the face of the climate emergency, the development of local initiatives that contribute to the fight against climate change at a global level is essential. The support of systemic, demonstrative and replicable projects represents a source of inspiration and clues to begin this in-depth transformation.

Since 2010 we have supported various initiatives in this regard in France and Spain:

both on the scale of production with the Tricyclerie that recovers nutrients from cities to enrich the soil, the GRAB Avignon that manages in particular a pilot farm in agro-ecology La Durette, Agroof that reconciles the demands of productivity and respect for biodiversity; the Andalusian seed network that promotes the consumption of fruit and vegetable varieties that are more resilient to climate change. It is also worth mentioning the work of the Pau Costa Foundation , which promotes grazing in forest areas to prevent fires, and which promotes the marketing of meat obtained through this sustainable production system, in the territory in which it has been produced, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere as much as possible.
in the middle of the chain through Noé Conservation , which seeks to make the French agricultural sectors authentic levers for ecosystem restoration; or the Emys Foundation that accompanies producers in land stewardship models and in the local marketing of their products
at the consumption level with the Nicolas Hulot Foundation and in particular the “Mon Restau Responsable” project that proposes sustainable supply to collective restaurants for better food and less waste, Health Care Without Harm that reconciles quality care with a sustainable food strategy in hospitals; or the school canteen project of Pamplona’s nursery schools or the Chef2020 network that promotes sustainable diets in terms of health and the environment
or even at these 3 levels at the same time with the Biovallée that establishes at the level of a territory a governance system to offer all agents, from the producer to the consumer, the possibility of interacting to move together towards a more sustainable local agricultural and agri-food system; or the Territorialized Food Systems projects that in Spain promote the collaboration of civil society and the administration in the definition of territorialized food policies

* On “climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems”.

**IPCC press release of 8 August 2019