2026 Reports

New Understanding of Climate Change and Food Systems since the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report: Global and Regional Impacts, Solutions, Structural Trends, and Research Directions

Rosenzweig, Cynthia E.; Mencos Contreras, Erik A.; Karl, Kevin; Ruane, Alexander; Valdivia, Roberto O.; Guarin, J.

We survey advances contributed by peer-reviewed studies since the IPCC AR6 food system chapter. The focus is on recent (2020-present) assessments of climate change impacts both on global food systems and vulnerable agricultural regions, as well as promising actions for both mitigation and adaptation (Fig. 1). It includes a review of the ongoing structural changes in food production and processing and a description of how Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs), Representative Agricultural Pathways (RAPs), and AgMIP model ensembles are being used to study them. A new Global Adaptation Pathways effort is getting underway that will provide key tools for implementation. Finally, we identify important emerging areas for research.