Partnering with UNEP

The United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) objective is to inspire, inform and enable nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without harming future generations, provide leadership and encourage partnerships in caring for the environment.

FAO and UNEP work together on issues related to sustainable agriculture, aquaculture, agrifood systems, biodiversity conservation, and climate change adaptation, leveraging their expertise and resources to address the environmental challenges associated with agriculture and agrifood systems.

Global Frameworks

In 2014, FAO and UNEP signed signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a period of five years. This MoU was extended for another five additional years in 2019.

The MoU defines the following overarching areas as the priorities in the enhanced collaboration between FAO and UNEP, which the extension continues: Sustainable food systems; Ecosystem services and biodiversity in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; Data and statistics; and International legal instruments, legislation, and regulatory matters.

Memberships

FAO and UNEP are Members of several groups and initiatives at both global and country-level to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Below are a few highlights:

Both organizations are Members of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG), a high-level forum for joint policy formation and decision-making, which guides, supports, tracks and oversees the coordination of development operations i in countries and territories across the world.

Along with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), FAO and UNEP are also part of the One Health Quadripartite, which coordinates the inter-agency engagement to address issues related to the health of humans, animals, and the ecosystem.

International Observances

The United Nations designates specific days, weeks, years and decades as occasions to mark particular events or topics in order to promote, through awareness and action, the objectives of the Organization.

FAO and UNEP co-led the implementation of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030 (link). The United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration aspires to unite the world behind a common goal of preventing, halting and reversing the degradation of ecosystems worldwide. Forests, grasslands, croplands, wetlands, savannahs, and other terrestrial to inland water ecosystems, marine and coastal ecosystems and urban environments—all of them are in dire need of some level of protection and restoration.

FAO, in collaboration with the UNEP and other relevant organizations, facilitates the observance of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (IDAFLW) , which takes place every year on 29 September.

The IDAFLW contributes to raising awareness of the importance of the problem and its possible solutions at all levels and promotes global efforts and collective action towards meeting target 12.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which reads:

Target 12.3: By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.

Useful Links and Resources