The Fifth Science Policy Forum for Biodiversity and The Eighth International Conference on Sustainability Science, COP15
12 December 2022, Montréal, Canada
Sustainability & food systems/ agriculture: Scaling-up and measuring sustainability
Organizer: IUBS
Introduction:
Bending the curve of biodiversity loss will require strong action and changes in the use of biodiversity and nature; how ambitious, realistic and measurable are the proposed goals related to food and agriculture (goals A, B and Target 10). In the same line, it is still not clear how food systems and other products or sustainable management of agriculture [forestry and fisheries] should change to be sustainable while coping with human demands, or how progress will be measured. This session will be discussing on the convergence of sustainable land uses for agriculture, taking into account the SDG, and how Target 10, goals A and B can be implemented.
Speakers:
Mr. Josef Settele, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Co-chair of IPBES global assessment
Ms. Ndeye Fatou MAR, Land Department Coordinator Sahara and Sahel Observatory – OSS, Tunis
Mr. Alexander Gasparatos, UCLouvain, Institute for Future Initiatives (IFI), University of Tokyo, “Local sustainability impacts of non-food commodity crops”
Ms. Marie-Christine Cormier-Salem, Agropolis Fondation – IRD, “Sustainability, diversity and equity. The links between resilience, multiple-use systems and local knowledge”
Mr. Piero Visconti, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), “Assessing EU policies for nature, agriculture and climate”
Mr. Fabrice de Clerk, Bioversity International
Key messages from the session
Feeding humanity and enhancing the conservation and sustainable use of nature are complementary aims that can be advanced through sustainable agriculture, aquaculture and livestock systems, the safeguarding of native species, varieties, breeds and habitats, and ecological restoration.
- Promoting sustainable agricultural and agroecological practices.
- Empowering producers and consumers to transform supply chains; and facilitating sustainable and healthy dietary choices.
- Unsustainable food systems are the main driver of biodiversity loss, leading to negative health outcomes, vulnerability and injustice. Without transforming food systems, we will not be able to reverse biodiversity loss.
- Agroecology is a systems approach that has the power to achieve multiple biodiversity targets, with substantial co-benefits across the SDGs, including biodiversity. We need biodiverse, resilient and locally adaptable food systems that are most resilient to climate change and other shocks in the system, including financing mechanisms. It is the missing piece of the puzzle, and without it in the Global Biodiversity Framework, we will miss the mark. It is critical to all three pillars of the CBD: conservation, sustainable use, and equity, and must be included in Target 10 of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
- Mixed farming landscapes, with a combination of on-farm biodiversity conservation, landscape management for biodiversity and preserved forest or grassland fragments have a great potential for making an important contribution to biodiversity conservation.
- Commodity crop production outcomes depends on very diverse local realities, production groups and models, scales and geographical context. The challenge is in navigating trade-offs between dimensions when measuring sustainability performance. This means finding ways to measure different contexts.
- Despite some similarities between and within commodity crops and production models, the actual landscape modification, environmental impact and socioeconomic outcomes depend significantly on spatial scales, beneficiary groups and geographical contexts.
- Despite some broad similarities within the same crop/model, there is no “typical” production system for a given crop that has exactly the same sustainability performance between geographical settings.
- The same sustainability instrument might be promoted in totally different ways and have different outcomes across sustainability dimensions. This variability has significant implications: when trying to generalise and seek options to “enhance the sustainability of the production of a type of crop in a specific spatial scale.
- Differences in gender roles in landscape modification, with women promoting more diversified mixed farming systems, should be taken into account.
- Understanding local variability in technology adoption when scaling up biodiversity-based and/or sustainable solutions is also important.
- This implies a) different acceptability of biodiversity-based solutions and/or good management practices, b) constraints to adopt and sustain the adoption of such options, and the needs in terms of capacities and knowledge.