Climate Change

paris agreement@2x

Paris agreement

The Paris Agreement was ratified at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference 2015 catalyzing a new age of climate action. The Agreement sets long-term goals to guide all nations to: 

  • Substantially reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to limit the global temperature increase in this century to 2 ºC while pursuing efforts to limit the increase even further to 1.5 ºC. 

  • Review countries’ commitments or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) every five years. 

  • Provide financing to developing countries to mitigate climate change, strengthen resilience and enhance abilities to adapt to climate impacts.  

Participatory global reduction of greenhouse gases

The Paris Agreement includes strategies for the participatory global reduction of greenhouse gases and FAO is working with countries to ensure these strategies are implemented: 

  • Providing support to countries on NDC implementation and formulation.   
  • Identifying and integrating climate adaptation measures into national planning and budgeting processes through National Adaptation Plans (NAP).  
  • Developing and maintaining Long-Term Low-Carbon Development Strategies for the quality of livelihoods and ecosystems and in the context of economic growth and sustainable development. 
  • Monitoring and evaluating the progress and effectiveness of NDCs in a clear and transparent manner and inform the Global Stocktake through the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF).   


Global Stocktake


The Global Stocktake (GST) is a monitoring mechanism built into the Paris Agreement to take stock of its progress, implementation, and achievement of long-term goals every five years. FAO contributes to the GST with submissions informing the development of key policy recommendations, and through participation in GST Technical Dialogue.  

The three thematic areas of the GST correspond with FAO action areas: 

  • Mitigation: evaluated in the GST are risks and opportunities in the crops, livestock, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, and other land use sectors, particularly in the context of just transition and equity. 

  • Adaptation: how to scale best practices in agrifood systems, promote inclusiveness, and to measure progress towards the Global Goal on Adaptation. 

  • Means of implementation and support: closing finance gaps, capacity building and technology development, implementation, and transfer in the context of promoting resilient and equitable agrifood systems with special consideration for the needs of developing countries. 

    In 2019, global emissions resulting from human activity (anthropogenic) were 54 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq), of which 17 billion tonnes CO2eq, or 31 percent, came from agrifood systems.

    For further information: FAO statistics on food and agriculture