Bilateral meeting with the Minister for Climate Change and Environment of the United Arab Emirates – H.E. Mariam Bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Almheiri

Hyderabad - The FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, held a bilateral meeting with H.E. Mariam Bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Almheiri, Minister for Climate Change and Environment of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on the margins of the G20 Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting.

The Minister conveyed her agreement with the need for a transformation of global agrifood systems, and highlighted the important role of climate change, peace and the need to focus on sustainability.

The Minister informed that the UAE would be conducting a national dialogue on climate action to get all stakeholders to talk about agrifood systems, food loss and waste, and private sector engagement. She also informed that preparations were underway for in the Food Systems Summit Stock Taking Moment in July at FAO.

The Minister further affirmed that they would make sure that agrifood systems and energy had a center state at COP28. She also indicated that it was necessary to establish a framework for countries to monitor and access financing.

The Director-General informed that the FAO Members had endorsed the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-31 which will guide the work of the Organization over the next decade in support of the transformation of global agrifood systems to be more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable, for the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind.

The Director-General also highlighted that it was important for food security and nutrition to be included in the final declaration of COP28. He emphasized that "agri" must stay in "food systems" as an integral part of "agrifood systems", as it was key to include the environment, soil, water, forestry, and biodiversity elements into the systems. For this reason, we should not just refer to “Nature-based solutions”, but to “Science-based solutions”.

The Director-General also briefed the Minister on his meeting with H.E. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, President-Designate of COP28, and informed that they had agreed on the need to strengthen the water-food-energy nexus, and to continue keeping water and food high on the agenda with an agrifood systems approach.

Finally, the Director-General conveyed his wish for strengthened collaboration with the UAE, in particular at sub-regional level, and referred to the need for the UAE to have a strategic investment in the Innovation Hub.

The Minister informed that they were currently working on a project in Abu Dhabi, which, if successful, would be implemented across the country. The Minister concluded by saying that the UAE was a young nation and firmly believed in the youth as they were the future, and appreciated the establishment of the FAO Youth Committee and the Women’s Committee by the Director-General, noting they were precursors within the UN system.