Submission by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and CGIAR to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in relation to the topic of the second dialogue under the United Arab Emirates Just Transition Work Programme

FAO and CGIAR. 2024. Submission by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and CGIAR to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in relation to the topic of the second dialogue under the United Arab Emirates Just Transition Work Programme. Rome, Italy: FAO and Montpellier, France: CGIAR System Organization.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) welcome the opportunity to submit views on opportunities, best practices, actionable solutions, challenges and barriers relevant to the topic of the second dialogue on “Ensuring support for people-centric and equitable just transition pathways with a focus on the whole of-society approach and the workforce”, under the United Arab Emirates Just Transition Work Programme (UAE JTWP) in relation to decision 3/CMA.5, para. 3-4.Agriculture is highly vulnerable to and severely impacted by climate change, at the same time as being a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and water use globally. Today, 1.23 billion people are employed in agrifood systems, while 3.83 billion people worldwide live in households linked to agrifood systems-based livelihoods1

Moreover, over three quarters of the world’s poor live in rural areas and many of them depend on agrifood systems to make a living. Globally, 36 percent of working women are employed in agrifood systems, along with 38 percent of working men as of 20192. This demonstrates that agriculture is an important sector for the global workforce, even though for both women and men, these numbers represent a decline of about 10 percentage points since 2005, driven mainly by a reduction in employment in primary agricultural production. The transition to a greener economy is generally expected to result in a net employment gain. However, it is critical to recognize that achieving a just workforce transition in agrifood systems will require different policy considerations and actions than in other sectors.