Background 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has confirmed that climate change will increase pressure on food production and access, particularly in vulnerable regions such as Asia-Pacific. Those hardest hit include Indigenous Peoples, small-scale food producers, and low-income households – particularly in developing countries. The first Global Stocktake (GST) of the Paris Agreement, concluded at the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, has recognized the fundamental priority of safeguarding food security and ending hunger, and the vulnerabilities of food production systems to the adverse impacts of climate change.

The side event will provide an opportunity for States in Asia-Pacific, international organizations, and other relevant stakeholders to discuss the adverse impacts of climate change on SDG Goal 1 (No Poverty) and Goal 2 (Zero Hunger). It will also provide a space to discuss the climate impacts of food systems as well as the food systems transformation that is needed to reduce climate impacts and safeguard the right to food through rights-based approaches to climate action as well as the role of the financial sector in accelerating commitments and actions towards these ends.

Key Questions and Outcomes 

This side event will examine the following key guiding questions: 

1. How is climate change affecting the full realization of the right to adequate food of people in vulnerable situations, for example, Indigenous Peoples, smallholder farmers, women, and children in the Asia-Pacific? 
2. What specific measures, including public policies, legislation, practices, or strategies has your government undertaken, in compliance with applicable international human rights law, to promote an approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation, as well as loss and damage, that ensures the full and effective enjoyment of the right to food? 
3. What are mechanisms and tools in place to measure and monitor the impacts of climate change and climate change policy and project on the full realization of the right to food and the ability of IPs and smallholders and examples of promising practices and challenges in the promotion, protection, and fulfilment of the full realization of the right to food in the context of the adverse effects of climate change.

Bringing together a diverse panel, this side event aims to enhance understanding of the impacts of climate change on the right to food as well as the climate impacts of food systems in Asia-Pacific. It will also highlight the benefits of human rights-based climate action and a food system transition from industrialized agriculture towards agroecology, identify good practices, and share lessons learned in the promotion and protection of the right to food in the context of the adverse impacts of climate change, including science-based approaches and Indigenous Peoples’ traditional knowledge and identify opportunities for collaboration and action by States through international cooperation to implement rights-based climate action and a food system transition that benefits both people and the planet.

For more information, please contact Ms. Romchat Wachirarattanakornkul, human rights, climate change and environment focal point (Asia), UN Human Rights Office for South-East Asia at @email