By Mayank Chhaya –

Perhaps a bit gimmicky but CoP28 will offer what it calls “the first 1.5° C-aligned menu” as part of its objective of making the conference carbon-neutral.
CoP28 or the Conference of Parties is the supreme decision-making body of the United Nations as the world work towards limiting the global temperature rise caused by human-made climate change to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial levels.
The conference starting in Dubai on Nov. 30 through Dec 12 has an ambitious agenda like all previous CoPs. To make a point about its earnestness, the organizers have said, “More than 90 food and beverage outlets will showcase a diverse range of cuisines, including a unique 100 percent vegan food truck park and Alkebulan, the world’s first African dining hall.”
Some 250,000 meals are estimated to be served every day of the 12-day event.
“To ensure menus are climate-conscious and sustainable, COP28 mandates caterers to minimize waste, use sustainable packaging, provide training, and recycle where possible. COP28 is working with Expo City Dubai, Dubai World Trade Centre and Erth to ensure food and beverage vendors are supported as much as possible in achieving the challenging Sustainable Catering Strategy,” according to an official release.
It said the COP28 Catering Team has been working with Nutritics to support vendors by providing access to its platform to enable vendors to calculate the carbon and water intensity of menu items. “Caterers have been asked to ensure that at least 50 percent of food served falls within sustainable limits for carbon and water intensity, as well as aligning with UAE guidelines on macronutrients. By providing carbon-conscious choices and supporting information, delegates will be able make informed eating choices at COP28,” it said.
Global food diets, especially meat-based foods, have been a subject of the debate over sustainability of agriculture on a planet heating rapidly because of rising carbon emissions.
“The intention is to showcase how climate-friendly food can be tasty, nutritious and affordable,” the release said, adding, “A 1.5°C-aligned menu enables delegates to have breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack, while remaining within the individual “budget” for the carbon of 2.3k CO2e per day.”
It is a measure of how climate change consciousness has entered across sectors that even software companies such as Nutritics have come up. Nutritics enables caterers to track the carbon and water intensity taken to produce a menu item, while also calculating the nutritional content of the item.
Over the years there has been a growing realization among environmentalists, environmental activists and bodies such as CoP that there is no single solution to the climate crises which have the potential to cause increasingly unmanageable natural catastrophes. They will require a combination of solutions. To that end “climate-friendly” food is a new initiative.