Improving the relationship between food and climate: The Glasgow Declaration

Climate is changing. And world population is growing. In fact, according to UN data, we will be 8.6 billion people in the world in 2030. Meanwhile, climate change threatens our ability to feed everyone on the planet, eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development. How are we going to deal with all these challenges? To counteract global warming from sustainable agriculture, IPES-Food and Nourish Scotland led a partnership in early 2020 to draft the Glasgow Food and Climate Declaration. 

The public launch took place on 14 December 2020 and was attended by the cities of Barcelona, Glasgow, Milan, New Haven, Quito and Surakarta, as well as by FAO and the Government of Scotland. “Glasgow’s message as we head towards COP26 is that climate justice and social justice are inseparable“, said Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow City Council. 

The declaration calls on the signatories’ local authorities to reduce greenhouse gases related to urban and regional food systems within the framework of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. Taking into account the views of key actors in the food system, the authorities renewed their commitment to develop sustainable food policies, promote mechanisms for joint action and call on national governments to place food and agriculture at the centre of the global response to the climate emergency. 

The CEMAS team had the honour of being part of this declaration through active presence and participation in the preliminary sessions. Marta Alandí Palanca, CEMAS Technician, stated that it intends to be “one more gear that serves to put into operation this great mechanism that facilitates to achieve the objectives set out in the different future initiatives”. 

The Glasgow Declaration has allowed CEMAS to develop part of its core objectives, such as connecting with other cities and organisations that also work on sustainable food issues, as well as raising awareness and disseminating important global issues related to food, especially healthy and sustainable food systems in cities. 

“National governments must begin to act by putting food and agriculture at the centre of their agendas. Their actions are key to addressing the climate emergency we are currently experiencing”, adds Marta.