Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

FAO’s 1.5 °C roadmap for food systems falls short

Nature Food volume 5, pages 264–266 (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

The first instalment of the FAO food systems roadmap is a key step in identifying pathways to achieve zero hunger without breaching the 1.5 °C climate change threshold. But future instalments should be more methodologically transparent, emphasize the need to reduce animal-sourced food consumption and align with a holistic One Health approach.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Achieving SDG 2 without breaching the 1.5 °C threshold: A global roadmap. Part 1 – How agrifood systems transformation through accelerated climate actions will help achieving food security and nutrition, today and tomorrow, In brief (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2023); https://doi.org/10.4060/cc9113en

  2. Xu, X. et al. Nat. Food 2, 724–732 (2021).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Arndt, C. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 119, e2111294119 (2022).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Ivanovich, C. C., Sun, T., Gordon, D. R. & Ocko, I. B. Nat. Clim. Change 13, 297–302 (2023).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Clark, M. A. et al. Science 370, 705–708 (2020).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Rueda, O., Mogollón, J. M., Stenzel, F., Tukker, A. & Scherer, L. One Earth 7, 293–310 (2024).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Gephart, J. A. et al. Nature 597, 360–365 (2021).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Willett, W. et al. Lancet 393, 447–492 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. GBD 2017 Diet Collaborators. Lancet 393, 1958–1972 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. What’s Cooking? An assessment of potential impacts of selected novel alternatives to conventional animal products (United Nations Environment Programme, 2023); https://go.nature.com/48HZSeJ

  11. Gilbert, W., Thomas, L. F., Coyne, L. & Rushton, J. Animal 15, 100123 (2021).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. One Health High-Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP) et al. PLoS Pathog. 18, e1010537 (2022).

  13. Mathur, M. B. Science 375, 1362 (2022).

    Article  ADS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector (International Energy Agency, 2021); https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank O. Rueda for helpful discussions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stockholm Environment Institute US, Somerville, MA, USA

    Cleo Verkuijl

  2. Brooks McCormick Jr. Animal Law and Policy Program, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Cleo Verkuijl

  3. Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Jan Dutkiewicz

  4. Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands

    Laura Scherer & Paul Behrens

  5. Stockholm Environment Institute US, Seattle, WA, USA

    Michael Lazarus

  6. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil

    Maria José Hötzel

  7. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands

    Rebecca Nordquist

  8. Department of Environmental Studies, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Matthew Hayek

Authors
  1. Cleo Verkuijl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jan Dutkiewicz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Laura Scherer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Paul Behrens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Michael Lazarus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Maria José Hötzel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Rebecca Nordquist
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Matthew Hayek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cleo Verkuijl.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Verkuijl, C., Dutkiewicz, J., Scherer, L. et al. FAO’s 1.5 °C roadmap for food systems falls short. Nat Food 5, 264–266 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-024-00950-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-024-00950-x

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing Anthropocene

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Anthropocene newsletter — what matters in anthropocene research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Anthropocene