How trade can be a sustainable driver of the climate-food nexus
Every day, the climate-food nexus—the complex relationship between food security and climate change—is becoming more critical for the small businesses and entrepreneurs we serve.
Last month, the UN Environment Programme warned in their latest Emissions Gap Report that global temperature increases could reach 3.1 degrees Celsius this century unless we ratchet up our climate mitigation ambitions. This temperature increase would be, in short, catastrophic—not least for agricultural producers with limited capacity to adapt to shifting weather patterns and prepare for natural disasters.
It would also have devastating ramifications for food security and hunger levels—which are already worsening by the day. Last year, 733 million people experienced hunger, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). Today, thousands in the world are also at risk of famine due to climate change, conflicts, and other crises, according to a new report from the FAO and the World Food Programme.
We must act now. One critical step is to ensure that small businesses and smallholders can use resources more effectively as they also build their capacity to trade. That means paving the way for a clean and circular economy, one that helps achieve climate neutrality, reverse biodiversity loss, cut pollution and provide a fair, healthy and environmental-friendly food system.
In the wake of the biodiversity COP16, and with climate COP29 now on the horizon, this Trade Forum edition looks at what these actions can look like. Our contributions cover various aspects of the climate-food nexus in relation to trade and small businesses, exemplifying best practices and recommendations from experts along with the entrepreneurs we help.
Our expert views include the voices of FAO who advocate for a strong international trading system to deliver on food security and climate needs; the World Business Council for Sustainable Development who analyse the financial gaps to scale the transition to sustainable agriculture; one of the winners of this year’s Youth Ecopreneur Awards, Agritech Analytics, who employs technology and artificial intelligence for food security in Kenya; and the Shamba Centre for Food and Climate who explain why empowering small-scale farmers through financial means is essential for food security.
More examples of strong innovations for adapting to climate extremes and combating food insecurity are illustrated in our multimedia features from small businesses in the Dominican Republic and Uganda, plus our interviews with the Ghana Cocoa Board, Viva Organica in Botswana, the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber in Malaysia, and CLAC Fairtrade in Latin America.
We also hear from the UN Country Team in Iraq, insights from our own ITC staff on the latest developments on the EU Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products, how we support smallholder farmers in Pakistan, and how the right market-access approach in conflict-led settings can improve food security.
Dear readers,
In today’s increasingly uncertain world, we as the global community must do more, and we must do better. We have proven that trade can make food more available and affordable, and that investing to build the capacity of small businesses is crucial for trade-led development that is environmentally and social sustainable.
We must ensure that the promise of SDG 2 is delivered—and that the Paris Agreement succeeds. None of us can afford to do otherwise. We must also ensure that trade policy measures feature in the next round of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, seeing how many small businesses are employed in agriculture and fisheries. That is why ITC will be soft launching new guidelines on how governments can do that at COP29.
I look forward to working together with you to make these goals possible and hope you find this issue’s contributions inspiring and insightful.
