Page 4 - Vol.39-No.6

FAO LAUNCHES ACTION PLAN FOR
EDITORIAL
AMBITIOUS CLIMATE STRATEGY

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United ble energy, and food and water security,” said FAO
Nations (FAO) has launched an Action Plan designed to Director-General QU Dongyu. “This Action Plan will
support the implementation of its ambitious Strategy help implement agrifood system solutions to climate
on Climate Change 2022-2031. change from across all FAO areas of work, ensuring
we are working as one FAO.”
The Strategy, which was endorsed in June 2022 by
FAO’s executive body, the Council, envisages agrifood Three pillars
systems as sustainable, inclusive, resilient and adaptive The Action Plan is based on three pillars: 1) advoca-
to climate change.
cy at global and regional levels; 2) policy support at
Global agrifood systems, which encompass the pro- country level; 3) the scaling-up of climate action on
duction of food and non-food agricultural products, the ground with local actors and vulnerable populations.
as well as their storage, transportation, processing, As far as the first pillar is concerned, FAO is already
distribution, marketing, disposal and consumption, are
currently responsible for about a third of total green- stepping up its advocacy efforts in global fora. For
example, FAO was recognized as a strategic partner
house gas emissions. They are also one of the major of the COP27 Presidency, supported the agricultural
victims of the climate crisis. But agrifood systems also
offer many solutions for confronting the climate crisis, track of the climate negotiations and hosted a Food
and Agriculture pavilion for the first time at the Cli-
from building resilience and adaptation to mitigation mate Change Conference held in Sharm el-Sheikh in
and sequestration.
November 2022. This momentum and collaboration
The Strategy aims to scale up the visibility, uptake and is set to continue with the Presidency of the United
investment in these solution by contributing to adap- Arab Emirates.
tive, resilient low-emission economies “while providing In terms of policy support to FAO Members, the
sufficient, safe and nutritious foods for healthy diets, Plan aims to intensify support in the elaboration and
as well as other agricultural products and services, for
present and future generations, leaving no one behind. implementation of climate commitments, in particular
the National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and nationally
Crucially, it recognizes that the time to act is now. determined contributions (NDCs). FAO is active in this
area with its Scaling up Climate Ambition on Land
To guarantee the successful and timely implemen-
tation of the Strategy, FAO has developed an Action Use and Agriculture through nationally determined
Plan based on discussions with its FAO Members, so contributions and National Adaptation Plans (SCALA)
as to ensure that it reflects their needs and priorities programme, which is currently active in 12 countries
as closely as possible. spread across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

“FAO’s Strategy on Climate Change is our response For instance, in Nepal, a country with limited insti-
to the worldwide challenge of tackling the impacts tutional capacity for addressing issues associated with
of the climate crisis, while aiming to address a broad climate change, the SCALA Programme is bringing
range of interlinked challenges, including biodiversity added value and technical expertise in achieving the
loss, desertification, land and environmental degra- country’s goals for more resilient agriculture systems
dation, the need for accessible, affordable renewa- and sustainable agriculture and land use practices.
The third pillar seeks to bring about a stronger in-
volvement by local stakeholders, with a particular focus
In The Next Issue Advertise on vulnerable groups, such as women and Indigenous
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and adoption of good practices that will ensure a
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Animal Health products ! greater food security, better livelihoods, as well as
• Livestock breeding, feeds and housing address climate change, biodiversity loss, and land
• Preventive measures degradation.
• Veterinary medicines
• Veterinary products and equipment One example of where FAO is working on this is
through its Strengthening Agricultural Adaptation
Food Processing Technology and Equipment (SAGA) projects, which aims to reinforce adaptation
• Food Processing Machinery / Dairy products, fats and oils planning for food security and nutrition in two Fran-
cophone countries particularly vulnerable to climate
Agriculture Machinery change: Haiti and Senegal.
Show Preview: The Plan associates a series of concrete outputs to
• Agritechnica 2023 - Hanover Germany, all the outcomes and pillars that were endorsed in the
• Saudi Agriculture 2023 - Riyadh Strategy and covers the period 2022-2025, allowing
• Gulf Food Manf. 2023 - Dubai for a mid-term review of its implementation.