The COP is the supreme decision-making body of the Convention. All States that are Parties to the Convention are represented at the COP, at which they review the implementation of the Convention and any other legal instruments that the COP adopts and take decisions necessary to promote the effective implementation of the Convention, including institutional and administrative arrangements.

Glasgow summit

• By the COP27, which will be held in Egypt in 2022, governments should consider reinforcing their 2030 targets, according to the Glasgow Summit.
• The meeting set a goal for global warming of no more than +1.5°C, and nearly 140 countries committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.The achievement is notable because, under the Paris Agreement, poor countries agreed to reduce “emissions-intensity” of GDP rather than emissions.
• India has now joined the consensus and set a net-zero goal for the year 2070.
• This is a significant improvement from India’s previous posture, in which it refused to acknowledge the need to reduce emissions.

Areas to focus

• First, by protecting and strengthening the livelihoods of vulnerable groups, resilient livelihoods and food security solutions can be created.
• Second, climate-resilient food crops, such as millets, are being adapted for nutritional security.
• Third, increasing value addition and local solutions by allowing women to control and own manufacturing processes and assets.
• Fourth, encouraging agriculture to be more resilient. This can be accomplished through providing small-holder farmers with sustainable possibilities, access to finance, and innovation, as well as climate awareness and readiness.
• Fifth, increasing civil society and government vulnerability analysis capacity and expertise. By addressing the link between food security and climate risk, this will improve food security.
• Sixth, increased climate funding is required for adaptation. Innovative means to mobilising funds for the adaptation fund must be explored by multilateral development banks, other financial institutions, and the private sector.
• Seventh, governments and the private sector should invest in assisting farmers while preserving biodiversity and providing attractive income and working conditions for smallholders and youth.

The need

• Food systems have an environmental impact and are a cause of climate change.
• Climate Change and Hunger: According to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), a 2°C increase in average global temperature from pre-industrial levels will result in an additional 189 million people going hungry.
• Climate change and vulnerable groups: The great majority of vulnerable communities, which rely on subsistence agriculture, fishing, and livestock, are forced to suffer the effects of climate change with limited adaptation options.
• Climate change and nutrition: According to the most recent IPCC assessment, climate change poses a hazard to nutrition by causing many breadbasket failures.
• As a result, how we build and operate our food system around the world is intricately related to climate change.

The UN Special Envoy for Food Systems Summit has urged for an unprecedented focus on food systems, including food and agriculture, by ensuring that COP27 (in Egypt) has a particular focus on this. There is a pressing need to reinvent our food systems, which necessitates examining them from the perspective of climate change adaptation and mitigation. Food systems should be made more climate-resilient while still being green and sustainable.

How to structure:

1. Give an intro about Conference of Parties (COP)
2. Mention the latest COP- Glasgow- summarise what various COP’s have decided over the years
3. Explain areas COP must focus on in the future
4. Conclude

Reference:

1. https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/cop27-in-egypt-must-focus-on-food-systems/article37831854.ece