Achieving Zero Hunger without breaching the 1.5°C Climate Goal, an FAO roadmap: Roundtable exchange with the OACPS

The FAO Liaison Office in Brussels, in partnership with the Secretariat of the Organisation of Africa, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), held a roundtable exchange with the OACPS Ambassadors and delegations on Achieving SDG 2 without breaching the 1.5 °C threshold: A global roadmap, which was launched last December at the twenty-eighth United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 28).   

In her opening remarks, Angélica Jácome, FAO’s Director of the Office of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), highlighted the significance of the Roadmap for Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP). She mentioned how it provides a global framework that promotes cross-border policy coordination and ensures that the regional needs and specificities, including geographical isolation and vulnerabilities to the effects of climate change, are taken into consideration when adopting policies that have a direct impact on livelihoods.  

Furthermore, Angélica Jácome underscored the importance of leveraging local knowledge and involvement by supporting smallholder farmers and local communities, especially for SIDS. In conclusion, she stated that the roundtable exchange was expected to make the Roadmap a useful tool for countries, in preparation of the fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States and the third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries, to be held in Antigua and Barbuda, and in Kigali, Rwanda, respectively.  

During his presentation, David Laborde, Director of the Agrifood Economics and Policy Division at FAO, emphasized how the Roadmap sets a framework for food production in line with climate goals and addresses inequalities in terms of access to nutritious food for all. He further underlined that even though we produce enough food to feed the entire world, the lack of access to nutritious food, exacerbated by high prices and inequalities, is what prevents people from adopting healthy diets, especially in developing countries. Laborde accentuated that food security and nutrition are an essential human right that cannot be achieved sustainably without implementing climate actions, changing the narrative and breaking silos. Agrifood systems must be at the forefront of a just transition.  

Globally, the Roadmap aligns agrifood systems transformation with climate actions, offering a blueprint toward providing healthy food for all and ensuring food security, today and tomorrow. It provides a framework to guide our efforts, with a total of 120 proposed actions in 10 different domains including livestock, fisheries and aquaculture, forests and wetlands, soil and water, crops, healthy diets, food loss and waste, clean energy, inclusive policies, and adequate scientific data, all in line with our climate commitments as stipulated in the Paris Agreement and reaffirmed at COP 28.  

His Excellency Jesse Jean, Ambassador of Haiti and Chair of the OACPS Committee of Ambassadors, emphasized the need for collective action to ensure access to healthy and nutritious food while respecting our climate targets.  

Cristelle Pratt, Assistant Secretary General, Department of Environment and Climate Action at the OACPS, alluded to the effects of hunger and malnutrition in the ACP countries, stressing the necessity to develop pragmatic solutions capable of ensuring that food produced and consumed meets nutrition needs and protects the environment, in order to achieve SDG 2 – Zero Hunger.  

The roundtable discussion was an opportune occasion for the Ambassadors and the OACPS delegations to hold a fruitful exchange and acknowledge the significance of the Roadmap while addressing the specificities of their countries and regions.  

Amongst the participants, representing OACPS, were Their Excellencies Ambassadors Cheryl Bazard of the Bahamas, Ivan Ogando of the Dominican Republic, Raphael Joseph of Grenada, Gilbert Van Lierop of Suriname, and Desmond Simon who represented the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). 

Other participants included Ignacio Ybañez, Special Envoy for SIDS at the European External Action Service (EEAS) and Josiane Willems, President of the ACP-EU Follow-up Committee at the European Social Economic Committee’s External Relations Section (EESC's REX Section).  

You can read more about the Global Roadmap: Achieving SDG 2 without breaching the 1.5 °C threshold here.