Highlights:

This brief focuses on two critical policy themes which are interlinked, viewing them through the lens of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The first is the global imperative to deliver on the ‘1.5+’ agenda: that is, to address climate change alongside challenges associated with other planetary boundaries. The second theme concerns growing calls for food system transformation. Food systems are failing to provide affordable healthy diets for three billion people and are important drivers of climate change and many other forms of environmental degradation. Actions are needed to address these policy agendas simultaneously to achieve the goals embedded in both. In other words, one cannot be achieved without success in the other.

There are three key conclusions. The first is that it is essential that all nations prioritise delivering on the 1.5+ agenda: all have critical roles to play. Failure to do so would lead to all countries being severely impacted, with LMICs most at risk. Second, policymakers need to align their national food system transformation pathways with the wider 1.5+ agenda: there is no viable future for food systems without delivering on 1.5+, and 1.5+ cannot be delivered without addressing the shortfalls in food systems. Third, this linked-up agenda has the potential to yield a cascade of wider benefits not just globally but also at the national level, for economic growth, equity, health outcomes, environmental sustainability, and greater stability. However, capturing mutual benefits requires the international community to work together to foster an environment to support change, share appropriate financing and technology innovation, and work concretely at sub-national levels to implement change.