The issue:

With the world population expected to surpass 10 billion by 2050, the demand for food, energy and water supply is expected to escalate significantly. The transformation pathways of the food, energy and water systems are deeply interconnected. Agri-food systems use the largest amount of freshwater resources and also about 30% of the world’s energy and are responsible for one-quarter of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates emissions from various stages of the lifecycle of food products to be 10.8 to 19.1 Gt CO2e per year, accounting for anywhere between 21–27% of global emissions. This underscores the need to accelerate investments in developing techniques to track food systems’ GHG emissions, expand and promote nature-based solutions, and climate-friendly processing, manufacturing and transporting practices. All three systems are adversely impacted by climate change, exacerbating existing social, economic and environmental challenges, particularly in vulnerable least-developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS).    

Addressing the food-water-energy nexus is at the heart of resolving the global food shortfall, ending hunger and mitigating the impact of climate change. The World Resources Institute estimates that food production needs to increase by 56% by 2025 (compared to 2010). Simultaneously, emissions from food systems must be reduced by 67% (without expanding land use). This is particularly critical as 50% of the world’s vegetated land is already dedicated to agriculture.  

Successful food system transformation that optimizes productivity and sustainability depends on a successful clean energy transition. Energy is essential at every stage of the food chain, including irrigation, primary production, post-harvesting, transportation, cooling, storage and cooking. It is also a key enabler for higher yields, value addition, increased incomes, lower losses, greater climate resilience and decarbonization.  

However, the global energy system is still far from providing equitable access to those in need.  In the industrializing countries, 685 million people and many agri-businesses in rural areas still lack access to electricity. Around 2.3 billion people have no access to clean cooking facilities, relying instead on traditional solid biomass, kerosene, or coal as their primary cooking fuel. Food production and consumer prices remain vulnerable to sudden changes in global fossil fuel supply. Unreliable power supplies hinder the adoption of modern agricultural technologies and value-added processing. Even in areas with access to electricity, high-energy costs impede agri-business growth, leading to higher food prices and reduced access for poorer households.   

In order to address these shortfalls without adversely impacting the environment, it is imperative to increase the use of renewable and energy efficient solutions. These can play a crucial role in meeting the electricity heating, cooling, and transport of food systems in both developed and developing countries. There are many viable technologies, which can be deployed along agri-food chains. These include solar irrigation, mini-grids, agrivoltaics, efficient cold storage and refrigeration appliances, efficient cooking and process heat solutions, as well as bioenergy from residues. Such solutions can contribute to end hunger, lower production costs and GHG emissions while increasing the adaptive capacity of agri-businesses. They can also provide employment opportunities for the local production and distribution of clean energy solutions.  

However, so far, the roll-out of such clean energy solutions in agri-food sector remains limited and faces extensive policy, regulatory, capacity and financial barriers. There is a lack of integrated cross-sectoral policies, financial instruments and investments addressing the energy, food and water nexus holistically and simultaneously. Scaling up the use of renewables in the agri-food industry will require concerted efforts between government, private sector and financial institutions.  

Objectives:

The session will: 

• Discuss options for industrializing countries to increase the productivity, sustainability and resilience of the agri-food industry through the integration of clean energy solutions along the entire value chain.  

• Focus on how these options enhance agri-food processing, reduce post-harvest losses and provide clean cooking services.  

• Identify best practices to leverage public and private finance and investment for the industrial roll-out of integrated clean energy agri-food solutions.

Key guiding questions:

• What are good examples and best practices for promoting clean energy solutions to improve the food-energy-climate climate nexus at different levels within the government and private sector? 

• What is needed to scale public and private finance and investment for the industrial roll-out of integrated clean energy agri-food solutions?  

• What are the key actions needed to turn the tide on climate change in food systems by 2030? 

Session format and structure:

After an introduction by the moderator, the “Davos style” session will facilitate a discussion between leaders of the private food industry, multilateral finance institutions and Ministers from LDCs and SIDS. No formal speeches will be used, in order to foster an open debate and lively interaction. 

Setting the scene and moderation

Keynote speech

Panelists