Food and the Atmospheric Commons - A Planetary Reckoning

As climate impacts accelerate, food insecurity is surging — with hundreds of millions already affected by droughts, floods, shifting rainfall patterns, and desertification. These disruptions are rooted in the degradation of our Global Commons: the Atmosphere, destabilised by greenhouse gas emissions; the Ocean, acidified and overfished; and land systems pushed beyond regenerative limits. At the same time, the global food system is a leading cause of the crisis: it is the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the main driver of biodiversity loss, freshwater depletion, land system change, eutrophication, and chemical pollution. In this conversation, Martin Frick joins Giulia Foscari to explore this urgent paradox. Together, they discuss why a mandatory global food system transformation is both necessary and feasible — through regenerative agriculture, reduced animal protein consumption, and systemic reform. Reflecting on the shortcomings of multilateral fora such as the COPs — where our Global Commons remain voiceless — the dialogue also turns to emerging decentralised initiatives like Voice of Commons and COPx, as vital frameworks to reclaim agency and catalyse action for a just, sustainable, and food-secure future.

Martin Frick is a climate diplomat and systems thinker. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Club of Rome, Director of the UN World Food Programme’s Global Office in Berlin, and co-founder of COPx. As Senior Director of UN Climate Change (UNFCCC), he oversaw the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the Secretariat’s global Climate Action work. Frick was the EU’s lead negotiator in the creation of the UN Human Rights Council and later helped establish the UN’s sustainability hub in Bonn. He is a member of the Advisory Council of Voice of Commons, and was born at 324 parts per million carbon dioxide in the Atmosphere.