Read-out of the bilateral meeting between FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, and H.E. Wendy Morton, Minister for European Neighbourhood and the Americas at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and No

15 September 2021, Rome - The FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, and the Minister for European Neighbourhood and the Americas of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland met to strengthen their collaboration.

The Director-General thanked the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for their longstanding support to FAO as a Founding Member and their strong support in fighting desert locust, containing Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADs), Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and support to One Health. The Director-General recalled that he had established the Global Leaders Group (GLG) on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).

The Minister thanked FAO for the support it provides to countries to access climate funding, especially the poorest, and adapt to Climate Change, also beyond COP26. The pair further discussed the development of the new thematic FAO Strategy on Climate Change. The Director-General mentioned the first informal consultation with FAO Members on the development of the strategy that took place recently, where he had underlined the need to provide nutritious food with a low carbon footprint. In that respect, green and climate resilient agri-food systems are fundamental to resolving the climate crisis. The Director-General also mentioned that FAO co-leads the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030.

The development of a new FAO Science and Innovation Strategy was also discussed, and which was key for achieving the SDGs, as well as the recently launched Global Action on One Country One Priority Product. The initiative aims to boost the value chains of special agricultural products to ensure food security, improve nutrition, increase incomes and preserve the environment.

The Director-General also mentioned he had established the Office of SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs (OSL) two years ago as a first of its kind in the UN system. He also referred to the recently launched SIDS Solutions Forum, helping the most vulnerable countries enhance information exchange to facilitate development.