COP31 Day One: Food, Agriculture and Health Take Centre Stage in Antalya

COP31 Day One: Food, Agriculture and Health Take Centre Stage in Antalya

COP31’s first thematic day, Monday 9 November, was dedicated to food, agriculture and health. Sessions addressed the resilience of agricultural and food systems to climate change, efficient use of water resources, and the effects of the climate crisis on public health. A new Antalya Initiative for Health Resilience was also launched.

Health: from warning to practical tools

According to the World Health Organization, between 3.3 and 3.6 billion people live in areas highly vulnerable to climate change. Health is one of the ten priority areas of COP31’s Action Agenda, and countries are urged to put into practice the Belém Health Action Plan agreed at COP30.

The practical side centres on weather information for hospitals. Joy Shumake-Guillemot of the World Meteorological Organization told UN News that a joint initiative with WHO brings climate information into public health planning. A forecast of dangerous heat can help hospitals prepare for more patients, while rainfall and seasonal predictions can help authorities anticipate diseases such as malaria. She said almost all heat deaths are preventable. Scientists are also increasingly concerned about links between extreme heat and premature births and stillbirths.

Agriculture: from emissions to solutions

Food and agriculture account for roughly a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, but the sector is also highly vulnerable to rising temperatures, droughts and floods. At COP31, countries are reviewing the Sharm el-Sheikh programme on agriculture and food security, agreed at COP27, and deciding what comes next.

Farmers’ groups say access to money is the main obstacle. Cristian Barrasueta of the World Rural Forum said family farmers need a say in climate policy and access to funding, but complicated procedures and multiple intermediaries make international climate finance hard to reach for small farming organisations. He pointed to Fiji, where families are testing crop varieties and protecting seedlings from stronger cyclones.

The Food and Agriculture Organization has pressed for agriculture to receive more attention in the formal negotiations, noting an annual financing gap of around $1.3 trillion for agri-food systems. A stated food security goal calls for roadmaps linking sustainable agriculture, water availability and rural livelihoods, and for climate-resilient practice training for all young farmers by 2035. Those figures come from a secondary report on FAO’s position, so check them against FAO’s own materials.

Türkiye’s message on resilience

Türkiye’s Agriculture and Forestry Minister İbrahim Yumaklı called for stronger international cooperation and digital technologies. He said resilience means anticipating risks, reducing their effects and recovering quickly, citing sustainable water management, climate-adapted production, early warning and strong rural infrastructure. A session organised by Türkiye’s agricultural research directorate and CGIAR addressed artificial intelligence in agriculture, climate resilience and international cooperation.

Background: why this theme is first

Opening COP31 with food, agriculture and health fits the summit’s stated aim of focusing on human impacts and concrete decisions rather than grand declarations. The theme also connects to the host country’s own concerns: Turkish academics have urged COP31 to deliver measurable results on water security and food waste, and called for steps such as drip irrigation, treated wastewater in agriculture and smart water management.

Drought and El Niño add urgency

The sector’s risks are rising. In Bolivia, a severe drought has prompted a national emergency, with more than 75,000 livestock dead and over 114,000 families affected, and El Niño is expected to intensify in the coming months. That makes the timing of the finance debate important: smallholders need money before the next failed harvest, not after.

What to watch

Three things will show whether the first day’s focus produces results. First, what the review of the Sharm el-Sheikh agriculture programme decides, since it is a formal negotiating item. Second, whether the Antalya Initiative for Health Resilience attracts specific commitments. Third, whether farmers’ access to finance is reflected in the presidency-led decision that Australia is drafting. The food and agriculture finance figures also depend on how countries handle the wider finance dispute that opened the summit.

Conclusion

Starting COP31 with food, agriculture and health puts people at the centre of the agenda, as UN officials urged. The day produced a new health initiative and a clear message from farmers about access to finance, but the main decisions on agriculture and funding still lie ahead. The test is whether the practical tools discussed on day one, from heat forecasts to farmer finance, show up in the texts negotiated over the next two weeks.