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Overwhelming scientific evidence indicates that nothing other than the widespread transformation of agriculture and food systems is required to achieve the global climate goals set forth in the Paris Agreement as well as the global biodiversity targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF).

In recognition of this, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which presided over the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), convened a group of organisations to consolidate existing experiences, lessons learned, initiatives, and tools into a single resource to accelerate ambitious climate action in food and agriculture systems for a global audience. The taskforce – which included WWF, Climate Focus, the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, the NDC Partnership, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, CGIAR, and Alliance of Biodiversity and CIAT – synthesised existing guidance material and lessons learned on implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) for food system transformation. The resulting toolkit was published at COP28 and updated ahead of COP29 to support national policymakers and decisionmakers aiming to accelerate national climate efforts in agriculture and food systems.

Ahead of COP30, this updated and expanded web-based “Nature-positive Agrifood Systems Toolkit” aims to reflect additional guidance, tools and case studies for enhancing and implementing NDCs, NAPs, and National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) serving as a resource for national policymakers and decisionmakers aiming to align and accelerate national efforts on climate and biodiversity action and agriculture and food system transformation.

The toolkit covers resources specific to a wide range of sectors and themes, including livestock, crops, fisheries and aquaculture, agroforestry, nutrition, food security, forestry and other land use, biodiversity, nature-based solutions and ecosystem services, water, cities, coastal zones and oceans, disaster risk reduction, economic recovery, education, energy, gender equality, health, infrastructure and industry, livelihoods, poverty alleviation, waste, rural development, transport, youth, just transition.

Users can utilise the toolkit to access a curated collection of over 356 resources that can help accelerate a sustainable transformation of agriculture and food systems, including:

Guidance and frameworks: Policy briefs, implementation guides, guidance frameworks, or other stand-alone documents that can help policymakers implement sustainable agriculture and sustainable food systems measures, and strengthen and/or implement their country's NDCs, NAPs, NBSAPs.
Technical tools: Resources that offer analytical tools for climate, land-use, and biodiversity assessments in the context of food systems. These range from emissions scenario calculators and climate risk screening tools with geospatial data to land-use comparison models, cost-benefit analysis tools for sustainable agriculture transitions, and frameworks for resolving land-use conflicts.
Partnerships, platforms, or initiatives: Organisations, initiatives, dedicated to supporting countries in developing, implementing, and monitoring their NDCs, NAPs, and NBSAPs or otherwise supporting the advancement of sustainable food systems. These initiatives often provide their own tools and resources as part of broader capacity-building programs.
Implementation case studies: Real-world programs, projects, and policies that successfully integrate food systems targets and measures into national climate and biodiversity strategies.
National strategy examples: Specific NDCs, NAPs, and NBSAPs examples with explanations of how they demonstrate agriculture and food systems integration and are developed through inclusive, multi-stakeholder processes.

By equipping state actors and other key stakeholders with a useful set of knowledge assets, the toolkit specifically aims to support countries to:

strengthen integration and alignment of national strategies for climate and biodiversity action and food system transformation, including between NDCs, NAPs, NBSAPs, and national food system transformation pathways;
enhance the integration of food and agriculture system transformation in NDC implementation and revision processes in 2025 and 2030;
improve the integration of food and agriculture system transformation in NAP formulation and implementation processes, including considerations of NAP progress in 2025; and
ensure the integration of food and agriculture system transformation in NBSAP revision and implementation processes under the KMGBF.

Given this scope, the toolkit will support implementation of first Global Stocktake outcome under the Paris Agreement, implementation of the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience, and the Emirates Declaration on Resilient Food Systems, Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Action adopted at COP28 in the UAE. Additionally, the updated toolkit can help countries to progress towards the targets of the KMGBF both globally and at the national level, especially Target 10 on enhancing biodiversity and sustainability in agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries, and forestry.

You can find additional details on the content and how to use this toolkit in this accompanying Primer .