UN Flags Agrifood Protection Gaps Across National Climate Plans

According to a report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), most countries’ National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) fail to address key agricultural risks or adequately support vulnerable populations due to major finance and capacity gaps. The study, Agrifood Systems in National Adaptation Plans: An Analysis, was unveiled during COP30 in Belem, Brazil. It is the first comprehensive review of how agrifood systems are incorporated into NAPs, which serve as central tools for reducing climate vulnerability and mobilizing adaptation finance, especially in least-developed countries.

The report examines NAPs from 64 developing nations and evaluates how they incorporate climate risks, adaptation priorities, financing needs, implementation barriers, monitoring frameworks, gender considerations, and loss-and-damage measures. FAO and UNDP said the analysis fills a critical gap in understanding how countries translate agrifood resilience goals into policy and investment planning.

Findings show that agrifood systems rank among the highest priorities in national adaptation planning: 97% of countries reported climate impacts across crops, livestock, forests, fisheries, aquaculture, value chains, and food security. Yet most planned measures fall short of the scale of the threat. Only 16% of agrifood adaptation actions directly address identified climate impacts, and just 14% focus on vulnerable groups such as women, Indigenous Peoples, smallholder farmers, and youth.

Evidence-based planning also remains limited. Only one-third of assessed NAPs use climate risk and vulnerability assessments, and fewer than half apply robust appraisal or prioritization tools to guide decisions. Countries reported persistent challenges in implementation, citing limited technical capacity, weak institutional coordination, insufficient financing, and difficulty engaging the private sector.

Financing emerged as the largest barrier to adaptation. Although agrifood systems represent 54% of developing countries’ adaptation finance needs, they receive only 20% of global adaptation funding—equivalent to 1% of total climate finance.

“This analysis sends a clear message: countries know agrifood systems are the first line of defense against climate extremes, but they’re still not getting the support they need,” said Kaveh Zahedi, Director, FAO’s Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment.

The FAO’s report comes as agricultural lobbyists have drastically expanded their influence at COP30. According to a joint analysis by DeSmog and the Guardian, more than 300 industrial agriculture lobbyists were in attendance at this year’s talks, an increase of 14% compared with last year’s summit in Baku. The group, which exceeds the size of most national delegations, includes representatives from industrial cattle operations, major grain producers, and pesticide manufacturers. Of these lobbyists, 77—about one in four—are embedded within official country delegations, and six have special access to the UN negotiating spaces where countries are expected to craft climate policies.

Agriculture accounts for between one-quarter and one-third of global emissions, and scientists warn that meeting the targets set under the 2015 Paris Agreement will be impossible without fundamental changes to food production and consumption systems.