At the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, FAO’s main message was that sustainable and resilient agrifood systems are essential for achieving the Paris Agreement targets on climate change. These systems also ensure food security and nutrition for present and future generations.   

Ahead of the conference, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu highlighted FAO's work: “From restoration of degraded agricultural lands to resilient crops and sustainable aquaculture, and livestock, we have the solutions that deliver across sectors". 

Key outcomes and FAO’s role  

FAO has been working closely with countries and partners to keep agriculture and food security central to climate negotiations, contributing to discussions on the Global Goal on Adaptation, loss and damage, nationally determined contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans, transparency, climate finance,  just transition, and the Sharm el-Sheikh joint work on agriculture and food Security.  

A key outcome was a Decision related to the Standing Committee on Finance that also recognised FAO's support in hosting the SCF Forum. The decision “underscores that accelerating climate action and resilience through financing for sustainable food systems and agriculture is essential, including for protecting biodiversity and supporting vulnerable communities”.  

While the final negotiated package delivered progress on finance, such as tripling adaptation funding by 2035 and operationalizing the loss and damage fund, it fell short of adopting a formal roadmap to phase out fossil fuels or fully mainstream agrifood systems into all negotiation streams. 

In contrast, the COP30 Presidency’s Action Agenda demonstrated strong ambition for climate action through agriculture, forests, and bioeconomy. FAO played a key role in shaping and supporting initiatives such as RAIZ (Resilient Agriculture Investment for net-Zero land degradation), TERRA (agroforestry and agroecology for family farmers), the Bioeconomy Challenge, the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, and the Call to Action on Integrated Fire Management and Wildfire Resilience, all of which aim to accelerate solutions for resilience, restoration, and sustainable production. These initiatives will be central to FAO’s implementation work in the coming years.  

Building on these initiatives, FAO also strengthened global collaboration through its Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation (FAST) Partnership. FAST will continue to serve as a COP-to-COP mechanism to keep agrifood systems at the heart of climate dialogues and mobilize finance for transformative action, including scaling up RAIZ and other Presidency-led initiatives. Co-chaired by Azerbaijan and Brazil, as past and current COP Presidencies, the FAST Partnership held a Ministerial session where Togo and the Development Bank for Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) announced that they would be joining as new members. 

In addition, FAO reaffirmed its commitment to equity and inclusion through pathways for a just transition, ensuring that vulnerable farmers, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities benefit from climate finance and resilience-building measures.  

FAO co-hosted the Food and Agriculture Pavilion for the fourth consecutive year with CGIAR, providing a platform for science-based dialogue and partnerships that will drive post-COP implementation.  

Finance: the biggest challenge 

During the conference, FAO emphasized that science-based agrifood solutions can play a pivotal role in reducing emissions, enhancing carbon sequestration, restoring ecosystems, and strengthening resilience, but lack of finance is a barrier. 

At a side event on unlocking climate finance for agrifood transformation, during the last week of the conference Kaveh Zahedi, FAO Director of the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment, stressed 

“Agrifood systems are among the most powerful and cost-effective pathways for climate action. Failing to invest in agrifood systems is a missed opportunity for addressing the climate crisis" 

Science and Knowledge: driving action 

In the run up to the conference, FAO released several publications showcasing the latest data, new science and analysis of agrifood systems and climate change: 

• 2025 report on Climate-related development finance to agrifood systems – Global and regional trends. 

• Landmark report on National Adaption Plans (NAPs) highlights financing and capacity gaps. 

• Update on scientific findings on the interactions between agriculture, food systems and climate change - Comprehensive resource for policymakers and researchers, aiming to support the next assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 

• Highlights from the report on Extreme Heat - Risks and resilience pathways.  

• Greenhouse gas emissions from agrifood systems - Global, regional and country trends (2001-2023).  

• Pathways Towards a Just Transition.