Coalition of Action on Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems for Children and All (HDSFS)
Background
Climate change and malnutrition are two of the greatest barriers to sustainable development. By 2030, impacts of climate change may contribute to more than 100 million additional people being pushed into extreme poverty and to an increase of 50% in humanitarian needs. Compounded by the climate change challenge, in 2022, 738.9 million people faced hunger, and over 3.1 billion lacked access to healthy diets. Poverty, hunger and malnutrition are intrinsically intertwined and share similar structural drivers and vulnerabilities, including vulnerability to impact of climate extremes. Food security and good nutrition are essential human rights and will not be achieved sustainably without climate action. Whereas the goals of climate action cannot be achieved without also addressing food security and good nutrition. The latest IPCC reports document that even if all climate commitments in sectors other than agrifood systems were reached, the goals of the Paris Agreement would still not be met, highlighting the need to invest in agrifood systems solutions and underscoring the urgent need to empower all available climate solutions across all sectors. Integrated actions that are nutrition-sensitive and climate-smart present an opportunity to accelerate progress towards SDG 2, SDG 13 and the 1.5 °C Paris Agreement Goal simultaneously.