New global scorecard reveals major opportunity for climate progress through food systems

The Food Systems NDC Scorecard launches initial assessments ahead of the UN secretary-general’s climate summit

NEW YORK, Sept. 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mercy For Animals, along with partners Center for Biological Diversity, EAT, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, and Global Law Alliance for Animals and the Environment at Lewis & Clark Law School, has launched the first assessments from the Food Systems NDC Scorecard just ahead of the UN secretary-general’s climate summit. This new tool evaluates how countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) integrate food systems into climate action.

Food systems account for about one-third of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions but are missing in many national climate plans. According to the sixth assessment report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “even if fossil fuel emissions were eliminated immediately, food system emissions alone would jeopardize the achievement of the 1.5ºC target and threaten the 2ºC target.”

The Food Systems NDC Scorecard is the first structured framework for assessing whether NDCs address every stage of the food system — including production, consumption, and food loss and waste — while considering national context, equity, and risk of maladaptation. Initial assessments of 10 NDCs reveal that most leave major climate-mitigation opportunities on the table, focusing mainly on agricultural production and neglecting distribution, dietary shifts and food loss and waste.

“Food systems are a critical lever for climate action,” said Amelia Linn, director of global policy at Mercy For Animals. “The scorecard exposes the urgent need for countries to integrate comprehensive approaches that encompass all stages of the food system — from improving production to shifting diets — into their NDCs. Without this, ambitious climate targets remain out of reach.”

Fabrice DeClerck, science director at EAT, highlights the urgency and potential of coordinated food system action: “Food is the nexus of human health, environmental sustainability and social justice. Shifts to healthy diets from regenerative production practices are our best-bet solutions for addressing human health and well-being, as well as climate and biodiversity, with enormous untapped synergies. It’s time for countries to think big on food system actions in their NDCs.”

The first set of assessments covers Brazil, Kenya, New Zealand, Switzerland, the UAE and the UK; four more will follow in October ahead of COP30.

For more information and to view the country assessments, visit FoodSystemsNDCScorecard.org.
For embargoed access, interviews or additional materials, contact clara.nafria.consultant@mercyforanimals.org.