The Agrifood systems in nationally determined contributions (NDCs): Global analysis report (released in 2025 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - FAO) is a crucial assessment that analyzes how Agrifood Systems (AFS)—encompassing agriculture, land use, and food value chains—are integrated into the national climate change mitigation and adaptation plans submitted by countries under the Paris Agreement.
Key Insights
AFS Dominance in NDCs: The analysis confirms that AFS remains the most frequently included sector across both adaptation and mitigation components of the NDCs, highlighting its central importance to global climate goals.
Adaptation vs. Mitigation Imbalance: A strong majority of countries (over 90%) include AFS in their adaptation priorities (e.g., resilience, water management), but the scope of mitigation actions (reducing emissions from AFS) is generally less ambitious and less quantified.
Mitigation Focus: When AFS mitigation is addressed, it primarily focuses on land-based actions like forestry and sustainable land management (SLM). There is a critical gap in addressing emissions from livestock, food waste, and post-production processing.
Financing Gaps: The report identifies a major disconnect between the ambition described in the NDCs and the required financing. Most NDCs fail to quantify the full cost of AFS transformation or clearly define how international climate finance will be channeled to support these sectorial actions.
Dual Call to Action: The report advocates for raising the ambition of future NDCs through better quality and coverage: Deepen Mitigation and Improve Implementation Readiness.
