Food in the international institutional discourse: A lexical analysis of official documents on climate change

Abstract

Official documents published by some of the most important organizations of the world —such as the UN, the WHO or the EU— have revealed an increasing concern about climate change and its effects, both on the planet and on human health. In light of these developments, the identification of the causes and strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change has become a central issue on the international political agenda.

This work aims to analyse the role that food plays in the international official documents considered as the "road maps" for addressing climate change. To this end, a lexical and semantic analysis of four key documents has been conducted: "Climate Change: Synthesis Report" (IPCC, 2014), "2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” (UN, 2015), “The Paris Agreement” (UN, 2015) and the “European Green Deal” (European Commission, 2019).

The results show that food is addressed in these documents, albeit with not a significant weight. The limited references found are related to agri-food production but not linked to consumption or diet, despite the pivotal role of food in driving changes in the agri-food system and, therefore, in achieving sustainable development.