Why COP30’s Success Depends on Comprehensive Food System Action

With COP30 underway in Brazil, a critical opportunity for raising ambition in climate action remains: the comprehensive integration of food systems into countries’ climate plans. 

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By Amelia Linn

The Food Systems NDC Scorecard — an innovative initiative from Mercy For Animals, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, the Center for Biological Diversity, EAT and the Global Law Alliance for Animals and the Environment at Lewis & Clark Law School — outlines a clear path for countries to embrace this opportunity. 

The scorecard evaluates how national climate plans under the Paris Agreement, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), incorporate food systems. With countries continuing to submit updated NDCs, the scorecard provides a holistic and transparent framework for assessing whether food systems are adequately represented in these key climate strategies while accounting for differences across national contexts. Serving as both a diagnostic instrument and a roadmap for policy improvement, the scorecard offers crucial insights at a decisive moment for global climate governance.

Food systems are an indispensable yet often overlooked piece of the climate puzzle. About one-third of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions originate from food systems – spanning food production, processing, transport, consumption and waste. The scale of impact is staggering. Even if we halted fossil fuel emissions today, emissions from food systems alone would likely push global temperatures beyond the critical 1.5C target and undermine efforts to keep warming under 2C, cornerstone goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement.

The recently updated EAT-Lancet Commission report on healthy, sustainable and just food systems identifies food as “the single largest cause of planetary boundary transgressions” and warns that current food systems harm both people and the planet. Critically, the report finds that the diets of the richest 30% of the world’s population are responsible for more than 70% of the environmental pressures from food systems – exposing deep inequality. Adopting the Planetary Health Diet – rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains, with limited animal products – could help prevent an estimated 15 million avoidable deaths each year and dramatically cut food‑related emissions, according to the report.

Despite calls for a shift to healthy, predominantly plant-based diets, the Food Systems NDC Scorecard finds that while all 10 countries assessed – including Switzerland, Somalia, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, Brazil and New Zealand – consider food production in their climate plans, only about half include policies on food consumption, and few embrace dietary shifts. This narrow focus risks leaving monumental benefits untapped, highlighting the need for holistic food system reforms.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) makes unequivocally clear that climate mitigation efforts in food systems must extend well beyond producers. Effective action demands incorporating policies that support diet change and transforming consumer behavior, and the IPCC recognizes that the potential for demand-side mitigation is at least as significant as that on the supply side. We must transform what we eat, not just how food is produced.

Yet our scorecard analysis reveals that many countries with consumption patterns far exceeding healthy, sustainable limits have not included commitments to shifting from high-impact diets in their latest NDCs. This gap represents a lost opportunity for climate progress and public health.

Nonetheless, change is possible and already underway in some regions. Switzerland, for example, explicitly links diet shifts to climate and health goals. Its Agriculture and Food Climate Strategy 2050 sets a bold target: by 2050, the Swiss population will enjoy a healthy and balanced diet, and the diet-related greenhouse gas footprint per capita will be reduced by at least two-thirds compared to 2020.

The Food Systems NDC Scorecard stands out as the first comprehensive framework offering a transparent methodology for assessing how well countries are integrating food systems across their NDCs. And the effectiveness of these NDCs will depend on strong implementation.

This isn’t just an audit; it’s a strategic roadmap pointing policymakers to where their plans fall short and where transformative opportunities lie. From food-production practices to consumption patterns, the scorecard evaluates action across the food system and, crucially, highlights equity considerations and maladaptations, or policies with high risk of negative trade-offs. By illuminating these gaps, the tool empowers governments and advocates with the evidence needed to craft more ambitious and holistic policies that can deliver meaningful emissions reductions and enhance climate resilience.

A Call to Action for COP30

With COP30 underway, the world cannot afford the complacency of partial efforts and narrow climate agendas. The scorecard makes one thing crystal clear: food systems must be a central component of national climate plans.

Policymakers must rise to the challenge by embedding comprehensive food system reforms – including promoting healthy, predominantly plant-based diets, reducing food loss and waste and supporting equitable transitions – in their updated NDCs. This is not merely about meeting targets; it’s about safeguarding global health, equity and a stable climate future. The clock is ticking, but with tools like the scorecard and resolute political will, a healthy, sustainable food future is within reach, and it must be our shared priority.

The unprecedented climate challenge we face demands that food systems move from the sidelines to the center of global climate action. With less than two weeks of negotiations left, I call on governments, negotiators and climate advocates to use this opportunity to embrace comprehensive food system transformation. By doing so, we can unlock powerful climate mitigation potential, improve public health and promote social equity – laying the foundation for a resilient, just and sustainable future. The time to act is now.

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About the author: Amelia Linn is Director of Global Policy at Mercy For Animals where she leads international efforts to integrate sustainable food systems into climate policy. With over a decade of experience in climate change and food systems policy, Amelia brings extensive expertise from roles including adviser to the Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) at the United Nations, and at Environmental Defense Fund’s climate-smart agriculture initiative. She has also been an International Climate Fellow at NYU’s Guarini Center for Environmental, Energy, & Land Use Law, researching the intersection of animal agriculture and climate change.