The FABLE pathways presented in the report now present at least one Current Trends Pathway and one Sustainable Pathway to assess how far and how quickly improved policies can make land-use and food systems sustainable. They have also been expanded to cover freshwater, future climate-change impacts on crops, a richer discussion of biodiversity targets, and a more detailed trade analysis. They show how countries can meet mid-century objectives on food security, healthy diets, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity, forest conservation, and freshwater use.
These FABLE pathways can be a method for problem solving, working backwards from mid-century targets and shedding light on the major transformations that are needed to achieve them. They provide a framework for engaging stakeholders, can help identify mid-term technology benchmarks, and provide a long-term perspective to help countries avoid locking themselves into unsustainable food and land-use systems. They also provide a tool for countries to integrate biodiversity conservation and restoration as well as food systems into their climate strategies, particularly in the run-up to the climate and biodiversity COPs in 2021.
In a short period of time, the global FABLE Consortium country teams has developed major analytical capacities on land-use and food systems, pioneered new tools, and strengthened the analytical capacity in 20 countries. It plans to focus upcoming work on the following priorities:
- As part of FOLU, work with interested governments to support integrated strategies, including climate and biodiversity strategies under the climate and biodiversity conventions, that address short-term pressures on land-use and food systems and are consistent with meeting long-term goals.
- Advance a deeper understanding of how countries can design, implement, and monitor better policies to transform their land-use and food systems through the new Food, Environment, Land, and Development (FELD) Action Tracker
- Improve modeling tools to develop pathways and model policy options for land-use and food systems.
- Train the next generation of analysts and policymakers in developing long-term pathways towards sustainable land-use and food systems, so that FABLE tools can be applied by any research group or government that would like to do so.
- Strengthen and expand the FABLE Consortium, including by welcoming new country teams.
If you are interested in getting involved or learning more about FABLE, please write to info.fable@unsdsn.org.
Pathways to Sustainable Land-Use and Food Systems 2020
This second global report by the FABLE Consortium presents pathways towards sustainable land-use and food systems for 20 countries.
About FABLE
Operating as part of the Food and Land Use Coalition, the Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land-Use, and Energy (FABLE) Consortium mobilizes top knowledge institutions from 20 countries to support the development of decision-support tools and long-term pathways towards sustainable food and land-use systems. The FABLE Secretariat, led by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) with support from EAT and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), coordinates the FABLE Consortium.
Media Contacts:
Cheyenne Maddox
Outreach and Events Manager, SDSN