Introduction

On 25 September, the Center for Climate and Security (CCS) and the US Institute for Peace (USIP) convened key stakeholders on the sidelines of UN Climate Week in New York to discuss opportunities for forward-thinking partnerships at the food-climate-security nexus. This event, along with others in Washington, DC, and the Berlin Climate Security Conference, is part of the rollout for the final report of the CCS initiative Feeding Resilience, a project dedicated to the US national security benefits of jointly addressing climate change, food security, and stability. 

Participants were tasked with assessing how to build a greater understanding of how climate-related food insecurity relates to greater security risks, discussing gaps and opportunities in food security foresight tools, outlining the national security value of climate-resilient partnerships, and identifying innovative actions and potential policy recommendations. 

Attendees included key stakeholders from the US government, multilateral organizations, partners in Europe, food security donors, academics, and the private sector. This roundtable was held under Chatham House Rule, and the list of guiding questions and participants can be found in Annexes 1 and 2 of this summary. A complimentary expanded summary and analysis of UN Climate Week will be posted on the USIP website. 

Key Takeaways

Below are the key takeaways from the discussion: 

Balance Existing Efforts and Transformative Change

• While important work continues to be done via existing efforts like USAID’s Feed the Future, the UN World Food Programme, and others, policymakers shouldn’t be afraid of pushing for transformative change – shifting from responding to shocks to proactively assessing risks and acting early.
• One participant emphasized the need for “strategic patience;” while quick wins and short-term emergency response continue to be important, today’s food security challenges call for a more forward-thinking approach. 
• On-the-ground work is often a pilot for individual projects – transformation requires scaling up the efforts that are working and building a more effective pipeline of investable activities across food systems. 

Leverage National Security Assets 

• While food security has traditionally been a humanitarian and development challenge, defense and security actors clearly have a role to play in long-term global food security.
• Food can be a driver, a symptom, and a solution within a conflict setting. Understanding this dynamic and being able to leverage the power of food to support stability and peacebuilding requires better coordination with defense and security actors.

Break Silos To Realize Co-Benefits 

• Current efforts are often fragmented, marginalizing potentially relevant partners and limiting the opportunities for private sector engagement.
• Attendees frequently noted the need to break silos between defense, development, and diplomacy actors – and between the public and private sectors, with one participant noting that they hadn’t been in the same room as a defense actor in “several years,” despite key overlaps in their portfolio areas. 
• Many countries are at the center of the Venn diagram of food insecurity, climate vulnerability, and conflict. Operating effectively in these areas requires more transparency and coordination across US agencies and with external partners.

Benefits of Action Have a Long Tail

• Long-term food security will hinge on investments where the international community won’t see results for several years, such as cutting-edge R&D and local resilience-building efforts. 
• Some participants noted that there is currently a lot of information and data being collected, but there needs to be more work on sharing and applying that information to improve decision-making and actions on the ground. 
• Addressing food security is not just a technical issue—food and agriculture are critical economic sectors for many countries. Therefore, a transformative food security approach will also contribute to durable economic opportunities that can withstand the test of climate change.

Conclusion

Overall, this event emphasized the importance of continuing to jointly address the national security risks of food systems and climate change. Policymakers and practitioners increasingly acknowledge the importance of food access and availability, the intersection between hunger and stability, and the cascading benefits of strengthening food supply chains. Furthermore, partnerships will be key to ensuring that the food security landscape isn’t vulnerable to climate events and exogenous shocks. Given these dynamics, the United States has a clear opportunity to lead on such partnerships. The challenge is to translate this policy recognition into programs and partnerships that offer food and security co-benefits, as well as more transformative investments into resilient food systems. 

Annex 1: Suggested Questions for Discussion

• What are the biggest barriers to realizing food systems that are resilient to climate impacts and exogenous events? How is your organization working to overcome those barriers?
• How can leaders in the climate and security space better work to integrate food security into their efforts? What enabling conditions are needed to achieve co-benefits at the climate-food-security nexus?
• What foresight tools or policies are needed to improve these partnerships?
• How can we ensure a strong food security focus at COP29, the G20, IDA replenishment, and 2025 multilateral discussions? And more importantly, how do we ensure that focus in these fora translates to action?

Annex 2: List of Participants (speakers in bold) 

• Rose Barbuto, Senior Advisor, Farm Journal Foundation
• Emily Burlinghaus, Senior Climate Advisor, Office of Arctic and Global Resilience, US Department of Defense
• Matthias Berninger, Executive Vice President, Bayer AG
• Sharon Burke, President, Ecospherics
• Siena Cicarelli, Research Fellow, Center for Climate & Security
• Frances Colón, Senior Director, International Climate Policy Center for American Progress
• Caitlin Corner-Dolloff, Senior Policy Advisor for Climate & Agriculture, USAID
• Brittany Croll, Senior Program Officer, United States Institute of Peace
• Tom Ellison, Deputy Director, Center for Climate & Security
• Benedikt Franke, CEO, Munich Security Conference
• Stéphane Hallegatte, Senior Climate Change Advisor World Bank
• Hans Olav Ibrekk, Special Envoy, Climate Security Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Kiersten Johnson, FEWSNET Program Director, USAID
• Marcel Lewicki, Director of Partnerships and Development, Munich Security Conference
• Daniela Vega Lira, Chief of Staff to the Director General, CIMMYT
• Anna Nelson, Deputy Special Envoy, Global Food Security, US Department of State
• Colin Quinn, Director, Climate and Environment Winrock International
• Valerie Sanders, Head of the CEO Office, Munich Security Conference
• Ulrich Seidenberger, Deputy Director, NATO Climate Change & Security Center of Excellence
• Erin Sikorsky, Director, Center for Climate & Security
• Alex Stapleton, Senior Climate Advisor, Foreign Policy for America
• William Sutton, Global Lead for Climate Smart Agriculture, The World Bank
• Martien Van Nieuwkoop, Agriculture Director, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• COL Christopher Vitale, Director, Army Operational Energy & Climate Change US Department of Defense
• Neil Watkins, Deputy Director, Global Policy and Advocacy Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation