The Council on Foreign Relations, in collaboration with the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate), hosted a pivotal high-level event during New York Climate Week and the United Nations General Assembly on September 24, 2024. The event, titled “Accelerating Solutions at the Intersection of Climate Change and Food Security,” brought together leadership to explore immediate, scalable strategies for addressing the dual challenges of climate change and food security.
Key speakers included AIM for Climate co-leads, Her Excellency Dr. Amna bint Abdullah Al Dahak, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, and Thomas J. Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, alongside Her Excellency Mariam Almheiri, Head of the Office of International Affairs at the UAE Presidential Court, Elizabeth Cousens, President and CEO of the United Nations Foundation, Sir Andrew Steer, President and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund, and Michael Froman, President of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Moderated by Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran, Global Energy & Climate Innovation Editor for The Economist, the event examined the role of climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovations in driving global progress, highlighting sustainable practices to mitigate the impacts of food insecurity and the climate emergency.
AIM for Climate co-leads, Her Excellency Dr. Amna bint Abdullah Al Dahak, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, and Thomas J. Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, showcased the initiative’s significant progress since its launch in 2021. The five-year joint effort by the UAE and the United States emphasizes the critical role of climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovations in mitigating climate change, addressing hunger, and improving global food security. AIM for Climate partners have mobilized over $17 billion of increased investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovations from the public and private sectors, over a 2020 baseline.
The event marked the official launch of the AIM for Climate Report: “Cultivating Transformative Investments in Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems Innovation.” Developed in partnership with the United Nations Foundation, the report encourages partners to continue advocating for increased public and private investment in and support for climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation.
The AIM for Climate Report offers a clear roadmap for continued action by its partners in 2025 and beyond, including integrating climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovations into nationally determined contributions (NDCs). The event and report underscored the importance of sustained investments, partnerships, and policy frameworks to continue advancing climate-smart agriculture and food systems solutions, ensuring a resilient and sustainable global food system.
The report analyzes barriers to investments, presents successful case studies, and recommends actions partners can take to institutionalize progress on increased investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation made under AIM for Climate. This includes integrating specific language into NDCs, long-term strategies, and other relevant national climate policy documents to institutionalize progress.
The report presents four key recommendations to enhance the role of climate-smart agriculture and food systems in climate policy. With these four key recommendations, COP 29 presents a pivotal moment for countries to commit to enhanced climate action.
Recommendation 1: Enhance Inclusion of Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems Innovation in NDCs Design and Implementation:
Governments are urged to integrate climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovations into the design and implementation of NDCs, making them central to national climate strategies and addressing food security challenges.
Recommendation 2: Normalize Increased Investments in Support of AIM for Climate as New Budgetary Baselines:
The report advocates for sustained, normalized investments in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovations, establishing increased budgetary baselines in 2026 and beyond to ensure long-term sustainability and resilience.
Recommendation 3: Build Global Partnerships to Overcome Challenges and Scale Agricultural Innovation:
Global partnerships between governments, the private sector, and civil society are essential for overcoming technological and financial barriers to agricultural innovation. Initiatives like AIM for Scale are highlighted as pivotal to expanding the reach of climate-smart innovations.
Recommendation 4: Scale Public-Private Partnerships:
Robust public-private partnerships (PPPs) are crucial to leveraging private-sector investments and scaling agricultural innovations. The report emphasizes the need to foster PPPs to achieve the full potential of AIM for Climate’s goals.
As countries prepare to update their NDCs, Elizabeth Cousens, President and CEO of the United Nations Foundation, shared insights from a supporting disquisition titled “Increasing Ambition in NDCs through Agriculture and Food Systems Innovation: Evidence, Foundational Analysis, and Recommendations”, commissioned by AIM for Climate. This disquisition and report lays the groundwork for robust advocacy, commitments and discussions at COP29, urging countries to enhance their climate ambitions by integrating climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovations. These publications also offer clear strategies for scaling innovations globally through increased investments, global partnerships, and public-private collaborations.
Her Excellency Mariam Almheiri, Head of the Office of International Affairs at the UAE Presidential Court, provided updates on the launch of AIM for Scale, a legacy initiative from AIM for Climate, introduced at the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 28). Designed to foster collaboration between public and private sectors, AIM for Scale directly supports the AIM for Climate Report recommendations by accelerating and expanding climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovations. This initiative reflects Recommendation 3 of the report, which calls for building and scaling innovative global partnerships as a key lever for driving impactful, long-lasting change in the global climate-smart agriculture and food systems sector.
Sir Andrew Steer, President and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund, highlighted the Fund’s commitment to climate change transformation, announcing its designation as an AIM for Climate Innovation Sprint Partner. The Bezos Earth Fund Innovation Sprint aims to increase investment and partnerships for alternative proteins to meet the growing demand for animal protein, which is expected to rise by more than 50% to feed 10 billion people by 2050. Alternative proteins are products that substitute animal-based meat, dairy, and eggs and can be: i) plant-based proteins (using soy, pea, wheat, and other plants to produce alternatives), ii) fermentation-based proteins (using microbes to produce bioidentical alternatives to animal products) or fungi to produce whole biomass meat alternatives, and iii) cultivated proteins (growing protein using actual cells extracted from animals). This sprint will catalyze $150+ million USD investment for alternative protein R&D, including the USD $100 million awarded by the Bezos Earth Fund to the three recently established Bezos Centers for Sustainable Proteins in the United States, United Kingdom, and Singapore.