FAO and IRENA seek to increase renewable energy and drive food system transformation in rural communities

3 November 2020, Rome – The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), QU Dongyu, and the Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Francesco La Camera, have agreed to benefit from potential synergies and focus on concrete joint action to give farmers greater access to renewable energy and to support food system transformation in rural communities.

The leaders held a virtual meeting on Tuesday to discuss their shared objectives and find new avenues of collaboration in support of Members reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals.  

Qu noted three areas where FAO’s partnership with IRENA could be further strengthened and developed. These include: providing greater access for rural communities to renewable energy, supporting the development of the renewable energy sector in rural areas and capacity building at the national and local levels.

Today’s meeting moved the two organizations a step closer to their endorsement of a new Memorandum of Understanding that will reinforce their renewed visions and common objectives.  

Renewable energy and food system transformation are a priority for both organizations. The leaders agreed to commence their cooperation in Africa and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) as a priority and considered the importance of biomass, solar and hydropower as key areas for development.

FAO’s Director-General also presented details about FAO’s Green Cities Initiative while La Camera indicated there were synergies with IRENA’s cities programme. The two leaders also agreed to produce a joint publication on renewable energy, food and agriculture that will also coincide with the UN Food Systems Summit 2021.

The new MoU will give FAO an opportunity to promote the use of renewable energy in food chains, in order to contribute to sustainable food systems transformation, climate action and digital agriculture.

The renewed partnership will also reinforce the UN agency’s major programmes and initiatives such as FAO’s Hand-in-Hand initiative and IRENA’s energy transition work in particular in post-pandemic recovery, climate resilience and net-zero strategies. 

FAO and IRENA have had a long-running relationship and have been collaborating in the field of bioenergy for sustainable development, climate change mitigation and food and energy security through their membership of the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP).

FAO is a founding member of GBEP and has hosted GBEP’s Secretariat at FAO Headquarters since it was established in 2006. IRENA has been an official and strongly collaborative partner of GBEP since 2012.