Convention on Biological Diversity

Ministerial Session of the 2021 UN Food Systems Pre-Summit

/ WIT / Leave a comment

The Ministerial Roundtable of the 2021 UN Food Systems Pre-Summit explored the interlinkages between Rio conventions on Biodiversity, Climate Change and Desertification, as well as their positions in supporting the transformation of the food systems.

The session was commenced by Mr. Jean-Yves Le Drian, France Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, who highlighted the inseparable relationship between climate change and the current socio-economic and environmental affairs, and urged for collective actions at all levels through the Food System Summit and the three Rio conventions to build a sustainable future for all.

A moderated roundtable with Member States followed to discuss opportunities to build synergies between the Rio conventions on the environmental issues and bring remarkable impacts on combating global hunger and malnutrition. As emphasized, unsustainable agricultural practices are the driving causes of climate change, biodiversity loss and desertification, and these impacts, in turn, exacerbate poverty, food insecurity and conflict, etc. To break the vicious circle, all stressed governments’ paramount role in mainstreaming nature through political decision-making, and incentivizing all stakeholders into making environmental-friendly decisions in investment, business and consumption. In addition, it is essential for all countries to promote nature-based solutions in agricultural production and ensure all farmers can strengthen their resilience in adapting to the impacts of climate change and deliver more quality, healthy food in the market. Lastly, all highlighted the importance to rethink and connect the Rio conventions for delivering multi-beneficial actions on nature restoration and food system transformation.

Representatives of the three Rio conventions then provided their perspectives on the conventions’ principles, and underlined the importance to implement policies in a holistic and circular approach to account for the interlinkages between all environmental issues and social well-being.

Meeting: 2021 UN Food Systems Pre-Summit, Ministerial Roundtable on UN Food Systems Summit and Rio Conventions on Biodiversity, Climate Change and Desertification

Date/Location: Wednesday, July 28, 2021; 03:00-04:30; Red Room, Rome, Italy

Speaker:

Dr. Martin Frick, Deputy to the Special Envoy, Food Systems Summit Secretariat;

Mr. Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, France;

Ms. Teresa Ribera Rodriguez, Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Spain;

Dr. Thongplew Kongjun, Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Agricultural and Cooperatives, Thailand;

Mr. Christian Hofer, General-Director of the Federal Office for Agriculture, Switzerland;

Lord Zac Goldsmith, Minister for Pacific and the Environment Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), United Kingdom;

Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Ministry of Environment, Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, Egypt;

Prof. Dr. Rameesh Chand, Member of Nitiaayog, India;

Ms. Marije Beens, Vice Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Netherlands;

Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD);

Ms. Elizabeth Mrema, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity;

Ms. Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC);

Dr. Inger Andersen, Chair, UN Task Force and Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Written by: WIT-UN Intern Iris Sit

How scientific knowledge on oceans contributes to the implementation of national action plans on climate and human-induced changes

/ WIT / Leave a comment

Oceans Conference

The Ocean Conference held at the United Nations from 5-8 June, 2017 brought together many experts on oceans, civil societies and governments to organize different side events. Some of these events were co-organized and facilitated by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) with Governments and relevant organizations  by sharing on-the-ground experiences, lessons learned, and insights into transformative actions and partnerships, including partnerships through the Sustainable Ocean Initiative.

One of the first side events on June 5th, organized to bring in marine scientists and discuss the contribution of scientific knowledge on oceans to the implementation of national action plans on climate and human-induced changes. The moderator Jessica Faieta from UNDP opened the meeting by reminding the audience that the deadlines for achieving the SDG 14 (Oceans) were 2020 and 2025. Considering how pressing the issue was, she said, this side event was crucial to identify knowledge gaps and contribute towards ocean national action plans. Echoing Faieta’s view, representatives of the Dominican Republic, Argentina, and UNDP shared the challenges their countries and organization were facing, and their work in this area.

Marine experts also shared their knowledge about the ocean, including its importance, the impact of its change on the ecosystem, and the way the ocean works. In addition, Dr. Alberto Piola and Dr. Jose Muelbert highlighted that the warmer the ocean is, the lower would be the ability of the ocean to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Also, because the speed of ocean warming differs in different countries, some countries’ oceans are warming much faster as a result. Due to the fact that 40 percent of the global population live near the ocean, and 11 percent of the largest cities are very close to the ocean, the implications of warming causes a considerable impact on the human population, and the ecosystems. “Life started in the ocean,” Muelbert cautioned, “if we are not careful, life will end because of changes in the ocean.”

Meeting: How scientific knowledge on oceans can contribute to the implementation of national action plans on climate and human-induced changes

Date/Location: Monday, June 5, 2017; 09:00-10:30; Conference Room 6, United Nations Headquarters, New York, NY

Speakers:

Ms. Jessica Faieta, Assistant Secretary-General and Director, Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); H.E Francisco Domínguez Brito, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Government of Dominican Republic; H.E. Diego Moreno, Vice Minister, National Secretary of Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Government of Argentina; Dr. Alberto Piola, Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling project (SOCCOM), and Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI);  Dr. Jose Muelbert, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande and IAI;  Dr. Rebecca Klaus, Senior advisor and expert in Marine Spatial Planning and Marine Protected Areas, Cousteau Society;  Mr. Nik Sekhran, Director for Sustainable Development, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP.

Written By: WIT Representative Jadice Lau