Global food systems need over $200B funding boost, foundations say

There is an estimated $206-386 billion gap between what the philanthropic, public, and private sectors are now spending to make climate adaptations food systems and what they should be spending, a coalition of philanthropists said.

By Stephanie Beasley // 01 December 2023

A coalition of 24 philanthropic foundations is urging philanthropists, corporations, and governments to scale up their spending on climate-related changes to global food systems by more than $200 billion annually to achieve the global goal of significantly reducing fossil fuel use by 2050. The group of grantmakers — which includes the IKEA Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, and the philanthropically funded Global Alliance for the Future of Food — issued a joint call for increased food systems funding as part of a broader push to center conversations about fossil fuel use in agriculture at the 28th United Nations Climate Conference, or COP 28. The event kicked off in Dubai on Thursday. To achieve the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius — which was laid out in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement — it is critical to phase out fossil fuel-based agrochemicals, such as certain fertilizers and pesticides, and shift toward regenerative approaches, the group said. Regenerative agriculture is the process of restoring degraded soils through practices such as reduced plowing and limited use of pesticides. A U.N. report released last week warned that the world is on track to heat up by 3 degrees Celsius by the end of the century unless more aggressive action is taken to cut emissions. A tenfold increase in funding to transition food systems away from fossil fuel use should be part of those actions, according to the funders group. The estimated cost of fully funding a global food system transformation is $250 billion to $430 billion per year, but philanthropic, public, and private sectors are currently providing just $44 billion annually, according to a report released by the group on Friday. Investment at the scale proposed would mean half of all food produced could be regenerative and agroecological by 2040, and all would be transitioning to more sustainable approaches by 2050, the group said. “For this COP, I think it’s really important to elevate the need and the urgency to disconnect and decouple fossil fuels from food systems,” Lauren Baker, deputy director of Global Alliance for the Future of Food, told Devex in an interview. “Food systems are using 15% of our fossil fuels and contribute like 30% of greenhouse gasses. So we need a significant focus now on food systems, if we’re going to reach our 1.5 target,” she said. Why it matters Philanthropy and climate advocates have been pushing governments to recognize the critical role of food systems in addressing the climate crisis in the COP 28 “cover decision” or statement laying out high-level political agreements and goals on key issues. The philanthropy group that issued the call for increased funding on Friday includes a roster of influential funders, many of whom are expected to attend this year’s COP. Among them are the African Climate Foundation, ClimateWorks Foundation, India Climate Collaborative, Oak Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation. Some of the groups are expected to announce their own new philanthropic commitments during the two-week conference. Some members, such as the IKEA Foundation, also are sponsoring the Food Systems Pavilion at COP 28. IKEA Foundation has been a vocal advocate for food systems investments. It was one of the founding funders behind the Global Methane Hub, which launched in 2021 with more than $300 million in commitments and heavy focus on reducing methane emissions in agriculture. IKEA Foundation also is a co-founder of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet along with the Bezos Earth Fund and The Rockefeller Foundation. The Rockefeller Foundation also was part of the group issuing the joint call on Friday. It recently made a five-year, $1 billion pledge to support climate efforts in several areas, including food. This week, The Rockefeller Foundation also vowed to get its roughly $6 billion endowment to net-zero gas emissions by 2050, which would make it the largest private foundation in the United States to do so. Update, Dec. 5, 2023: This story has been updated to add the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation as one of the grantmakers issuing the joint call.

A coalition of 24 philanthropic foundations is urging philanthropists, corporations, and governments to scale up their spending on climate-related changes to global food systems by more than $200 billion annually to achieve the global goal of significantly reducing fossil fuel use by 2050.

The group of grantmakers — which includes the IKEA Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, and the philanthropically funded Global Alliance for the Future of Food — issued a joint call for increased food systems funding as part of a broader push to center conversations about fossil fuel use in agriculture at the 28th United Nations Climate Conference, or COP 28. The event kicked off in Dubai on Thursday.

To achieve the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius — which was laid out in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement — it is critical to phase out fossil fuel-based agrochemicals, such as certain fertilizers and pesticides, and shift toward regenerative approaches, the group said. Regenerative agriculture is the process of restoring degraded soils through practices such as reduced plowing and limited use of pesticides.

More reading:

► Opinion: Scaling true cost accounting can transform our food systems

► How do we finance the transformation of the food system?

► Opinion: Food systems harm people and planet. Here is how we fix that

About the author

Stephanie Beasley @Steph_Beasley
Stephanie Beasley is a Senior Reporter at Devex, where she covers global philanthropy with a focus on regulations and policy. She is an alumna of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and Oberlin College and has a background in Latin American studies. She previously covered transportation security at POLITICO.

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