Food systems are fuelling the climate crisis, says UN expert

[00:00:00]Thank you very much, Mr. President.

[00:00:02]Excellencies, distinguished delegates, representatives from civil society, the UN, and participants.

[00:00:09]It is in a time of deepening paradoxes that I present my report on transforming food systems for a safe climate and health for all.

[00:00:18]We are experiencing extreme heat earlier than ever here in Geneva and in many other parts of the globe, and yet during the last few days in Bonn at the UN climate negotiations, delegates were debating about the validity of climate science.

[00:00:34]They had to debate whether or not to refer to the obligation of keeping the 1.5 temperature limit within reach instead of focusing on making overdue progress on climate change mitigation.

[00:00:46]These paradoxes and the price we are all paying, albeit to very different extents in different parts of the world, are much deeper.

[00:00:55]Since the beginning of the year, we have witnessed uh climate obstruction escalating into illegal military aggressions, attacks to democracy and multilateralism, and targeted weakening of the UN human rights pillar.

[00:01:10]These are essentially assaults to peace and the rule of law in protecting it.

[00:01:15]And they must be assessed in the broader context of the everyday physical and digital repression of climate and other human rights defenders and the systemic undermining of the support systems for victims across civil society and the judiciary from local to international levels.

[00:01:34]The current global fuel crisis has led to skyrocketing costs of living and exacerbated inequalities everywhere, whilst fossil fuel and associated businesses made record profits.

[00:01:47]The availability and accessibility of energy and food was particularly undermined in the countries most affected by climate change and least responsible for it.

[00:01:57]Beyond doubt, this crisis has further exposed how disentangling our lives from fossil fuels is essential for our economies, our security, and all human rights in their interdependence.

[00:02:12]My thematic report this year further clarifies the human rights imperative of the fossilizing our economies.

[00:02:19]It sheds light on who else is part of a fossil fuel-based economy and the extent to which their profits are premised knowingly on harming human and planetary health.

[00:02:32]Crucially, the report also shows that alternative solutions already exist.

[00:02:37]They are led by indigenous peoples, peasants, small-scale fishers, pastoralists, and rural women. And this has been pointed out by other UN human rights experts, by several global scientific processes, and by children and young people that I had the opportunity to consult with during the preparation of this report.

[00:02:56]Those solutions must now be clearly recognized, prioritized, and effectively supported legally and financially. They also serve to protect human rights locally and globally, and to globalize hope at a time when we most need it.

[00:03:13]After setting the context, allow me to share a few findings from my thematic report.

[00:03:19]It is clear in climate science the global food systems are a major driver of climate change, contributing to a third of greenhouse gas emissions, which are projected to increase up to 90% by 2050.

[00:03:33]Uh let us consider two specific examples among several aspects that are not sufficiently discussed in UN climate and other negotiations.

[00:03:42]The climate impact of nitrogen fertilizers alone exceeds that of commercial aviation.

[00:03:49]And more than a billion tons of wasted foods every year generate emissions equivalent to those of the world's third largest emitter.

[00:03:59]Those emissions are only a portion of the environmental harm caused by fossil fuel dependent food systems, uh which are proven to be responsible also for the transgression of multiple planetary boundaries and deepening economic inequality.

[00:04:15]These human rights impacts are compounded with widespread patterns of localized violations of the human rights of workers and frontline communities and the human human health toll everywhere of the reliance of industrialized food systems, including meat and dairy production, large-scale fisheries and aquaculture, on fossil fuels and also fossil feedstock for petrochemicals, plastics, fertilizers and pesticides.

[00:04:46]Due to the global reach of toxic pollution across food systems and the reach of ultra-processed foods, we are witnessing a combined epidemic of obesity, hunger, malnutrition and non-communicable diseases with disproportionate impacts on children's health and development and higher cancer rates in increasingly younger people.

[00:05:08]There's been a significant contribution and engagement in my work with the medical community across the world.

[00:05:15]Transforming food systems should thus be prioritized as climate action that is essential to protect everyone's human rights to health, taking an intergenerational approach to the interdependencies of the human right to development and the human right to a healthy environment in all its substantive dimensions.

[00:05:35]Yet finance is going in the opposite direction. Paradoxically, we provide almost $700 billion annually in subsidies to industrial agriculture and aquaculture and large-scale fisheries in addition to subsidies on fossil fuels, plastics, and petrochemical production.

[00:05:54]I've been wondering how many taxpayers are aware that they are subsidizing several times over an industrial complex that causes several trillion US dollars per year of environmental harm and ever-worsening health impacts.

[00:06:09]My report connects these findings with the recent work of the former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food on the unprecedented concentration of corporate power across food systems, linked to well-documented practices of disinformation, greenwashing, and climate obstruction. This is where we see a shared playbook of fossil fuel companies, petrochemicals, meat and dairy companies, as well as global food and beverage companies.

[00:06:39]Increased climate instability and food insecurity are thus linked to few identifiable global actors who are evading accountability while exercising disproportionate control over lands and territories, over production inputs, and markets.

[00:06:56]Yet, it is small-scale farming that produces 35% of the food in the world while only using 12% of agricultural land.

[00:07:07]So, the report clarifies the interrelated human rights obligations not only to decarbonize but also crucially to defossilize and detoxify our food systems in accordance with state obligations to protect the climate system clarified by the International Court of Justice in its 2025 advisory opinion.

[00:07:29]On the one hand, this requires the effective regulation and accountability of large-scale food businesses supporting and expanding the fossil fuel-based economy, which should be ensured through all legal, um, means available.

[00:07:44]And on the other hand, it requires prioritizing indigenous peoples, peasants, and women-led agroecology, ecosystem-based small-scale fishing, and pastoralism, which should be effectively protected and supported financially as urgent climate action and a health intervention to the benefit of all.

[00:08:04]Distinguished participants, I'm also presenting to you my country visit report. Uh, in May 2025, I had the privilege to visit Dominica at the invitation of the government, for which I'm very grateful.

[00:08:18]The visit was the first by a United Nations special procedure to the country, and it was my second visit to a small island developing state or large ocean state.

[00:08:28]Like other SIDS, Dominica represents the depth of the injustice of the climate crisis, contributing less than 0.01% of to the global climate crisis, and yet facing the most severe and compounding human rights impacts.

[00:08:44]2017 Hurricane Maria alone caused damage equivalent to more than 200% of GDP, 90% of the housing stock, and 80% of agricultural production.

[00:08:57]Dominica also represents extraordinary resilience, drawing on strong traditions of community solidarity and distinctively preserved cultural heritage and biodiversity.

[00:09:09]Such extraordinary resilience was also driven by explicit political commitment and a clear vision to become the world's first climate resilient country through health infrastructure, renewables, and ecosystem-based approaches.

[00:09:24]My visit focused on exploring how the human rights-based approach can expand the potential of transformative climate resilience, based on inclusive co-development of measures and projects that are enriched by the insights and contributions of the Kalinago people, young climate leaders, environmental human rights defenders, displaced and relocated communities, and migrants, as well as the country's rich biodiversity and cultural heritage.

[00:09:53]At the same time, the human rights based approach is needed to strengthen participation and accountability, which are guarantees for effective intersectional protection of human rights in the context of climate change.

[00:10:07]Similarly to my previous country visit report, this report paid specific attention to clarifying the corresponding human rights obligations of historically high-emitting states and the international community in terms of climate action and finance that are commensurate to the harm experienced and the highest possible ambition in Dominica.

[00:10:30]The report clarifies the responsibilities also of bilateral donors, development partners, and business to both avoid foreseeable human rights harm in their support and to really enhance the human rights based approach to climate resilience that is responsive to the lived experiences and agencies of those most affected and those left behind. This is essential again for intersectionality and to fully support the unique ecological and social cultural resilience of the nature island of the Caribbean.

[00:11:02]I look forward to a conversation with you on those two reports. Thank you.

[00:11:09]>> Thank you.

[00:11:11]According to our practice, we shall start by hearing the delegation of the country concerned.

[00:11:17]I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Dominica.

[00:11:22]You have 5 minutes.