There is no peace without tackling food security and eliminating hunger and there will be no food without tackling climate change. I am convinced that we can end hunger in our lifetime. We have the tools and the know-how. However, the goals and aspirations of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to end hunger, reduce rural poverty and manage natural resources in a sustainable manner cannot be achieved if temperatures continue to rise.
We have a window of opportunity to stabilize global average temperatures to safe levels but we must act now. Now is the time to take action to meet the target included in the Paris Agreement of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
That is why climate action, a cross-cutting theme of FAO’s Strategic Framework, is being integrated into every facet of our work, bolstering and building on decades of accumulated global experience and expertise.
Agriculture and food systems are partly responsible for increased temperatures but are also a fundamental part of the solution to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and promote adaptation to a changing climate, especially for rural family farmers in developing countries. Often the poorest, they are also the most vulnerable to climate change. For millions of people, our actions can make a difference between poverty and prosperity, between hunger and food security.
As the impacts of climate change increase and become more intense, a global transformation to sustainable agriculture must begin immediately.
Noting that around 90 percent of the countries’ climate commitments, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), include the agricultural sectors clearly demonstrates the strong demand from FAO Member Nations for climate action and also underlines that FAO has a fundamental contribution to make.
FAO considers climate change a top-line corporate priority - as reflected in the newly-endorsed Strategy on Climate Change where FAO will focus its work on three fronts:
First, to enhance institutional and technical capacities of Member States.
Second, to improve integration of food security, agriculture, forestry and fisheries within the international climate agenda.
And third, to strengthen internal coordination and delivery of FAO’s work.
This Strategy translates FAO’s core mandate into strategic choices and action priorities at global, regional, national and local levels with the central goal of supporting its Member Nations in achieving their commitments to face climate change. It will be implemented through FAO’s Strategic Framework as well as through strategic partnerships.
It is my honour to thank the numerous FAO Member Nations, partners and colleagues who participated in the consultative process that gave way to this first corporate FAO Strategy on Climate Change.
See the attached file for details
Source: http://www.fao.org/climate-change/
