Celebrating Progress and Accelerating Action: Redirecting public support for nature-positive food systems

Public support for the agricultural sector plays an important role in boosting livelihoods and food security in many regions of the world. However, such investment is often concentrated in subsidy programs that prioritize short-term productivity gains over long-term sustainability. Reforming incentives, including subsidies, that are harmful to nature and scaling up positive incentives for biodiversity are key targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

This dinner event, hosted in collaboration with the FAIRR Initiative and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), took place during the CBD’s Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI-7) meetings in Nairobi, Kenya. These intersessional discussions looked ahead to the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CBD COP 17) this October, which will host the first major global stocktake on implementation of the GBF.

While early findings indicate uneven progress on GBF Target 18 on reforming harmful incentives, this event highlighted positive examples, practical experiences, and emerging pathways for implementation. The discussion celebrated leadership, facilitated peer learning, and explored how countries and experts can collectively advance reforms that deliver benefits for biodiversity, climate, communities, and food systems.

This event followed our side event aimed at accelerating progress on Target 18 and showcasing collective efforts to achieve this, including the Informal Friends of Target 18 and Accelerating Rapid Transition of Subsidies and Incentives initiatives.