Agricultural subsidies can be repurposed for a just and sustainable rural transition
Why this matters: environmental and climate reporting with long-term consequences.
Orhan Solak is deputy director of Türkiye’s Directorate of Climate Change. In today’s fraught economic context, everyone is looking to do more with less, and financing climate action is no exception. Yet there are clear opportunities to make better use of existing funding to achieve climate goals, including the repurposing of more than $700 billion in agricultural subsidies to support a just rural transition. While public support for agriculture and food security has increasingly been reflected in global climate discussions, particularly in the context of the Paris Agreement’s Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), the scale and urgency of current challenges call for stronger consensus and rapid implementation of practical, context-sensitive solutions. The need to empower farmers to adopt sustainable practices, such as reducing food loss, cutting waste, building resilience and managing water resources wisely, is not a modern ethos. It echoes the model of Göbeklitepe, civilisation’s earliest-known settlement, built on the principles of solidarity, balance and harmony with nature. This historical perspective underscores that sustainable resource management is deeply rooted in human development, and it reinforces the importance of aligning today’s agricultural transformation with both environmental integrity and social equity. May 28, 2026 News El Niño expected to bring next record-hot year as soon as 2027 With El Niño set to return, the World Meteorological Organization has raised its predictions for another record-breaking hot year Read more May 29, 2026 Comment COP31 must persuade countries to make fossil fuel transition plans As the Iran war disrupts oil and gas supplies, the UN climate summit should tackle fossil fuel dependency, energy affordability and energy access – national roadmaps are a good start Read more However, to date, public support for farming globally has largely prioritised synthetic fertilisers and input-intensive production mod