The event is the third of a series of the initiative on “Mediterranean Diet’s Principles for Agenda 2030”. This series started in September 2019 and will continue throughout 2020 with subsequent sessions designed to raise awareness on how the Mediterranean Diet principles can help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, by exploring different related characteristics of the Mediterranean Diet and other traditional diets, such as biodiversity conservation, women’s empowerment, urban-rural linkages and food loss and waste management.

Mediterranean eating pattern implies sustainable agriculture, safeguarding of landscapes and has a low environmental footprint. The event will focus on the environmental sustainability of the Mediterranean Diet, highlighting how the traditional agricultural methods from the Mediterranean region can preserve key natural resources such as soils and water and help to mitigate the effects of climate change on agriculture. Similar characteristics of other traditional and indigenous agricultural systems will also be illustrated. FAO’s work on protecting and supporting these traditions will be presented.