Food system experts gathered at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) Nourish Scotland Pavilion in Glasgow on November 7 to discuss the role philanthropy should play in the climate emergency. The discussion explored the ways in which philanthropy can help translate commitments made at global, national, and regional forums—like COP26 itself—from words and into action.

“It’s just drastically bad to see how little contribution goes to climate philanthropy in the broader context,” Stefan Schurig, Secretary General of the Foundations Platform F20, an international network of foundations and philanthropic organizations calling for joint, transnational action towards sustainable development. “When you look at the numbers, it says we only have 10 years left…What are we waiting for?” he says.

While philanthropy spends billions on issue areas that are implicitly connected to food systems such as environment, nature conversation, climate, health, nutrition, human rights, and sustainable development, food systems issues are seldom explicitly addressed in these funding strategies.

“More and more, we’re seeing we need to connect the dots and take a systems approach,” says Patty Fong, Program Director of Climate, Health, and Well-Being for the Global Alliance for the Future of Food. “By itself philanthropy can’t solve the crisis, but it plays a crucial role in partnering with others.”

According to Petra Hans, Programme Manager at the IKEA Foundation, “Transformation of food systems means challenging the status quo.” This starts with building collaborations that help transition industries, however, these collaborations must be built on participatory decision-making.

Read the full article about philanthropy and the climate emergency by Emily Payne at Food Tank.