Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

FAO’s 1.5 °C roadmap for food systems falls short

  • Comment
  • Published:

From Nature Food

View current issue Submit your manuscript

The first instalment of the FAO food systems roadmap is a key step in identifying pathways to achieve zero hunger without breaching the 1.5 °C climate change threshold. But future instalments should be more methodologically transparent, emphasize the need to reduce animal-sourced food consumption and align with a holistic One Health approach.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Achieving SDG 2 without breaching the 1.5 °C threshold: A global roadmap. Part 1 – How agrifood systems transformation through accelerated climate actions will help achieving food security and nutrition, today and tomorrow, In brief (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2023); https://doi.org/10.4060/cc9113en

  2. Xu, X. et al. Nat. Food 2, 724–732 (2021).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Arndt, C. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 119, e2111294119 (2022).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Ivanovich, C. C., Sun, T., Gordon, D. R. & Ocko, I. B. Nat. Clim. Change 13, 297–302 (2023).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Clark, M. A. et al. Science 370, 705–708 (2020).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Rueda, O., Mogollón, J. M., Stenzel, F., Tukker, A. & Scherer, L. One Earth 7, 293–310 (2024).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Gephart, J. A. et al. Nature 597, 360–365 (2021).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Willett, W. et al. Lancet 393, 447–492 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. GBD 2017 Diet Collaborators. Lancet 393, 1958–1972 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. What’s Cooking? An assessment of potential impacts of selected novel alternatives to conventional animal products (United Nations Environment Programme, 2023); https://go.nature.com/48HZSeJ

  11. Gilbert, W., Thomas, L. F., Coyne, L. & Rushton, J. Animal 15, 100123 (2021).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. One Health High-Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP) et al. PLoS Pathog. 18, e1010537 (2022).

  13. Mathur, M. B. Science 375, 1362 (2022).

    Article  ADS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector (International Energy Agency, 2021); https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank O. Rueda for helpful discussions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stockholm Environment Institute US, Somerville, MA, USA

    Cleo Verkuijl

  2. Brooks McCormick Jr. Animal Law and Policy Program, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Cleo Verkuijl

  3. Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Jan Dutkiewicz

  4. Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands

    Laura Scherer & Paul Behrens

  5. Stockholm Environment Institute US, Seattle, WA, USA

    Michael Lazarus

  6. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil

    Maria José Hötzel

  7. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands

    Rebecca Nordquist

  8. Department of Environmental Studies, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Matthew Hayek

Authors
  1. Cleo Verkuijl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jan Dutkiewicz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Laura Scherer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Paul Behrens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Michael Lazarus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Maria José Hötzel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Rebecca Nordquist
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Matthew Hayek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cleo Verkuijl.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Verkuijl, C., Dutkiewicz, J., Scherer, L. et al. FAO’s 1.5 °C roadmap for food systems falls short. Nat Food 5, 264–266 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-024-00950-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-024-00950-x

  • Springer Nature Limited

Search

Navigation