Why COP30 Could Be Make-Or-Break For Food And Climate Solutions

Danielle Nierenberg

Danielle Nierenberg

The next chapter in the history of our planet’s climate will be written next week, as high-level negotiators, policymakers, civil society leaders, business representatives, farmers, chefs, and other climate experts gather for the 30th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP30. The two-week conference begins next Monday, November 10, in Belém, Brazil.

Will the story of COP30 be one where global leaders step up and embrace the urgent, bold, collaborative policy actions we desperately need to protect our planet and food and agriculture systems? Or will it be a tale of more incremental promises and empty long-range commitments that won’t come due till it’s too late?

I sound dramatic—but, honestly, the challenges facing our global climate systems are dramatic, and we need dramatic action to set us on a better course. This year is on track to be one of the three warmest years on record. The other two? 2024 and 2023. According to the 2025 Global Tipping Points Report, rising greenhouse gas emissions have already pushed the planet past one “point of no return” and we’re on the brink of heading past several more.

The stakes are high, and we can’t afford to hold out any longer.

“We can’t wait until everything is perfect, we have negotiated every text, and we have every declaration. How long are we going to wait for that? We have to start somewhere,” says Zitouni Ould-Dada, a Senior Advisor at FAIRR.

I’m optimistic about the way COP30 leaders are referring to this year’s conference as the implementation COP. As we’ve chronicled over the years, leaders are finally paying deeper attention to the power of food and agriculture, and this year, one of six pillars in the COP30 Action Agenda is entirely devoted to food and ag systems. Bravo! There’s no question that food and agriculture systems provide our most powerful tools for enacting meaningful, effective transformations in our approach to climate and planetary health.

In short: If global leaders are serious about implementing climate solutions—which, for the sake of people and the planet, they must be—then food and ag must be central. 

On the ground in Belém, Food Tank is convening a robust schedule of discussion sessions, interactive workshops, and best-practice spotlights to drive this much-needed food and climate action. Here’s a taste of what we’re planning:

During a collaborative UNFCCC Official Side Event, we’re bringing together city, national, and global leaders to explore policy tools that link food and climate action. At another UNFCCC Official Side Event, hosted alongside the Government of Finland, the Nordic Council of Ministers, and the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub, we’ll dig into the multilateral cooperation and investments needed to build the concept of a circular bioeconomy, which is foundational to climate action.

We’re partnering with Business Sweden and the Swedish Non-Negotiating Delegation to COP30 for a high-level Summit focusing on scaling up climate success stories. At the Action on Food Pavilion, we’re making space to uplift farmers’ voices from Australia to Brazil and highlight how farmer-led innovation is driving the transition toward just and sustainable food systems. 

At an evening gathering, stakeholders are coming together for a shared meal celebrating the flavors and resilience of the Amazon—and how gastronomy can transform food into a powerful tool for regenerative development. 

Later in the conference, we’re hosting a special happy hour conversation with UN Negotiators, to focus deeply on what it’ll take to make this the “implementation COP” and how we can hold ourselves accountable to actually making our action plans into reality. 

And there’s much more to be announced! For more details on Food Tank’s dynamic event schedule, CLICK HERE. And if you or your colleagues are planning to be at COP30 in person, please email Kenzie at Kenzie@FoodTank.com to receive special invitations to impactful events like these every day we’re on the ground in Belém.

Plus, I’ll be sending you daily dispatches from the ground so you can keep up whether you’re in Belém or at home. In your inboxes, Food Tankers like you will peek into my notebook for reflections on and reactions to the progress being made.

Ahead of COP30, sociologist and Brazilian First Lady Rosângela “Janja” Lula da Silva joined Food Tank for a special conversation at Climate Week NYC in September. As she pointed out, addressing the climate crisis is more than a two-week effort at COP. Instead, implementing decisive, equity-focused political action needs to be an everyday mission.

“COP is not just happening in Belém,” First Lady da Silva told me. “COP has to be embedded in all of us, inside of us and in our territories around the world. It has to be embedded in everything that we do.”

During COP30, I’ll be highlighting ways you can bring the “implementation COP” home, now and going forward. And after COP30 concludes, I’ll be heading to Guatemala to continue “ground-truthing”—talking closely with farmers, researchers, civil society groups, and eaters about the on-the-ground work they’re doing to build climate resilience and improve food and nutrition security.

Yes, the chapter of history that’s written in Belém this month could be make-or-break for global climate action—but we have the power to rewrite the story of sustainability and resilience in our own communities every single day, too.

So in the leadup to COP30, drop me a line at danielle@foodtank.com and let me know what on-the-ground work is taking place in your community to build strong local climate solutions. I look forward to staying in the loop on your ground-truthing work!

(Danielle Nierenberg is the President of Food Tank and can be reached at danielle@foodtank.com)