FAO Director-General meets UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and President-Designate of COP28

During his visit to the United Arab Emirates, the FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, along with a number of FAO officials, held a meeting today with His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and President-Designate of COP28 and his secretariate.

Meeting discussions highlighted the need to strengthen relations with the UAE on the importance and the urgency of coordinating efforts ahead of the launch of the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (#COP28UAE) that will convene from 30 November to 12 December 2023 in Dubai, UAE. They also underlined that the agri-food systems transformation requires strong public-private partnerships and an enabling environment to ensure its success.

The Director-General noted that the creation of digital platforms could increase and accelerate support to smallholder farmers and highlighted that connecting these farmers with the appropriate e-commerce tools would promote further transfers of knowledge and provide access to markets.

The Minister thanked the Director-General for his strong commitment and vision, as well as his leadership that led to key initiatives, toward realizing the FAO’s strategic framework for 2022-2030 and its four pillars, in which the organization is supporting countries to adapt to climate change and to mitigate climate change by reducing or preventing greenhouse gas emissions, through its projects and programs and a wide range of knowledge products.

Herewith, and earlier today, the Director-General and FAO delegation met also with Francesco La Camera, Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) where a plethora of climate change and renewable energy issues we discussed to locate best practices in the applications of adaptive measures in agri-food systems; in the strife for its sustainable transformation and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

Both meetings were attended by Abdul Hakim El-Waer, FAO Assistant Director- General and Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa, Ms. Ismahane Elouafi, FAO Chief Scientist, Mr. Godfrey Magwenzi Director of Cabinet, and a number of FAO officials.

FAO at COP28

Global food security and priority areas relevant to FAO’s mandate are high on the agenda. FAO will lead and co-lead events, and support member countries with technical advice both within and outside the climate negotiations. FAO Programs and projects across the globe aim at developing countries’ capacities for climate action and scaling up climate action on the ground is central to achieving climate-resilient and low-emission agrifood systems and eradicating hunger and malnutrition.