In November 2024, the ProVeg UN advocacy team made their mark at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, joining global leaders to drive meaningful change for our planet’s food systems.
This year, ProVeg partnered with the wider food-systems community on the Action On Food Hub. As part of this initiative, ProVeg coordinated the policy-zone area as a way to bridge the gap between negotiations and civil society, and to ensure that policymakers got to hear the demands of the public.
We were joined at COP29 by the members of our amazing ProVeg Youth Board, who represent the voices of the countless young people around the world who are navigating solutions to the climate crisis.
Our aims at COP29
Our goal at the event was not only to inform decision-makers about these crucial demands but also to foster unity within civil society and to push for the necessary changes on a collective basis.
Last year, at COP28, we saw significant progress around food systems, including plant-based catering for two-thirds of the event, the Emirates’ Declaration on Food Systems, and the official inclusion of food and agriculture in the programme.
Building on this momentum at COP29 was essential. It’s vital that we ensure that food systems remain a priority on the agenda for policymakers, highlighting what has been achieved so far, while stressing the need to further embed sustainable food practices into global climate strategies.However, it’s important to note that the official UNFCCC processes, namely, the actual party negotiations, have yet to fully integrate food systems into national and international climate strategies. All discussions related to food systems are currently happening outside of these negotiations – and ProVeg is calling for a shift to bring food systems to the centre of climate policy.
What ProVeg achieved
At COP29, ProVeg pressed for change in the way that our food systems are run – and a recognition that a change in our food systems is one of the critical solutions to the climate crisis. Through workshops, panels, and networking events, we underscored the vital importance of integrating plant-based solutions into global climate strategies.
Juliette Tronchon, our Head of UN Affairs, spoke at a press conference focused on the importance of amplifying the voices of youth, Indigenous peoples, and women, and making sure that their voices are heard in climate discussion and negotiations. Indeed, these groups bring vital insights and knowledge to the table that should not be ignored or overlooked, and they need to occupy a far more central role, particularly given the fact that they are the groups most demographically likely to be hit the hardest by climate change.
Together with the WWF, the FAO, and CGIAR, we hosted a workshop on actions to stop deforestation by 2030 through food system transformation. The session was moderated by Aline Baroni, of ProVeg Brazil, and brought together scientists, policymakers, and industry leaders to discuss innovative approaches to preserving ecosystems.
With youth leadership at the forefront, Senior UN Policy Manager Lana Weidgenant moderated a session on Youth Policy Demands for Food and Agriculture. The event showed that young advocates are key to leading and driving a significant systemic shift toward sustainability.
Belinda Ng, one of our Youth Board members, recounted, “The most memorable Action on Food Hub event that I attended was the debrief by civil-society members, including several representatives from Indigenous Groups, after the ‘Food, Agriculture and Water Day’. The reflections were insightful about the need for an inclusive and equitable transformation, particularly around Indigenous rights and cultural identity in agri-food systems, which I hope to incorporate more in my own advocacy and education-focused work, moving forward.”
ProVeg also presented the ProVeg Food Plate at the Action on Food Hub Pavilion, emphasising its cultural adaptation for Brazil – and showing how culturally relevant solutions can help to achieve climate goals.
Importantly, ProVeg was able to influence improvements at COP29, live on the ground. On arrival, we were disappointed to see limited plant-based catering options, and items mislabelled as ‘vegan’ or ‘vegetarian’ that contained animal-based products. During the first week, the COP presidency approached us and, after discussing the issues that we’d identified, made significant efforts to correctly label and provide better plant-based options for the second week of the conference.
Finally, a press conference held by Lana underlined the importance of plant-based catering at global climate events and further cemented the connection between our food choices and their environmental impacts.
Other outcomes of COP29
COP29, informally branded the ‘Finance COP’, highlighted the critical need for rich countries to finance climate action in poor nations that are disproportionately affected by climate impacts, even as those countries have contributed the least to the emergency.
On the opening day, UN climate head Simon Stiell linked climate change to rising food costs around the world, referencing a Nature study that found higher temperatures drive inflation for up to a year.
All of which only makes the need for transforming the world’s agrifood systems more urgent, even as progress remains slow. The Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture, the only formal inclusion of food in UN climate talks, closed at COP28 without meaningful agreements – and at COP29 there was no meaningful high-level focus on food systems.
However, a big win this year was the approval of a framework under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement, which will create a United Nations-governed emissions market worth billions in order to fund and generate climate projects in developing countries. While it was hailed as a “game changer”, green groups raised alarms over potential procedural flaws. Methane reduction was the main feature of the agreement, with $500 million in new funding, bringing commitments to more than $2 billion. The US, China, and the EU all announced ambitious methane action plans, with the FAO launching the Baku Harmoniya Climate Initiative to optimise agrifood transformation efforts.
Finally, during a High-Level session on improving COP-to-COP collaboration, recent COP presidencies (Colombia, Azerbaijan, and Saudi Arabia) shared plans to harmonise and simplify reporting for countries on climate, biodiversity, and land-use. ProVeg, along with the broader food systems community, have welcomed this news, as it can help us collect data to demonstrate the triple wins that can be achieved through food-system transformation. This will help to inspire and enable more countries to take action and will unlock further finance to scale these efforts.
What’s next at COP30?
COP29 achieved some progress, but, as is so often the case at these events, it remains for the stated ambitions to become meaningful actions. As Stephanie Maw, ProVeg’s Senior UN Policy & Advocacy Manager, noted, “We now need implementation, delivering change on the ground to those most affected, and to go forward swiftly. The first workshop in June next year at the Bonn Climate Conference SB62 will be critical for Parties to align on. This workshop needs to emphasise how a food-systems approach – considering consumption and nutrition alongside production and food loss and waste – can support swift and effective climate action in order to protect the planet, people, and nature.”
While COP29 was labelled the ‘Finance COP’, ProVeg’s Director of Partnerships and Institutional Engagement, Joanna Trewern, is confident that next year’s edition will include a bigger focus on food systems. “There were talks of how it could be a ‘Food COP’ next year, and we’re clearly seeing a larger opportunity, in going to Brazil and the Amazon, to have the conversation about nature, biodiversity, and forests as a larger overall focus, which also connects strongly to agriculture and food systems.”
Looking ahead to COP30, ProVeg is enthusiastic about Brazil’s commitment to sustainable and healthy food, including plant-based catering at the event itself, as has been already announced. This news, presented by Nilza de Oliveira, Director of Operations for COP30 in Brazil, during COP29, signals a strong step toward integrating food systems into climate solutions.
ProVeg’s Lana Weidgenant welcomed the move, saying, “We are delighted that Brazil has committed to providing healthy, sustainable food, including vegetarian and vegan options, that is locally produced and sold at fair prices, at next year’s COP30. Azerbaijan did provide a few plant-based options in the end, but Brazil is wisely preparing in advance and taking advice from experts like ProVeg in order to ensure that the catering leaves a strong positive impression on next year’s delegates.”
Make sure to regularly check our social media accounts for more updates on our UN advocacy work. Let’s work together to emphasise the importance of transforming food systems in combating the climate crisis!
Emily Styrka
Content Creator and Writer
