UNGA side event: Climate change in Vulnerable States Statement

 

UNGA side event: Climate change in Vulnerable States

Statement Ms Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General, FAO

22 September 2016, 15:00-18:00

Conference Room 12, UNHQ

 

Madame et Messieurs les ministres,

Mesdames et Messieurs les ambassadeurs,

Mesdames et Messieurs,

 Je tiens tout d’abord à remercier le Royaume du Maroc pour avoir été à l’initiative de cet évènement.Nous le savons, le Royaume du Maroc aura la charge d’assurer l’organisation de la COP22 mais aussi d’en garantir son succès à travers la transformation de l’Accord de Paris en actions concrètes. Madame la Ministre Hakima El Haite, Championne du climat pour le Maroc ne ménage pas ses efforts pour atteindre cet objectif.Sachez, Madame la Ministre, que la FAO se tient à vos côtés pour relever ce défi et faire des secteurs agricoles un levier d’action pour la lutte contre le changement climatique.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The world’s poorest people and countries are particularly hard hit, especially Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States, where most depend on natural resources and agriculture to provide income and food.

They are especially vulnerable to climate change but have done the least to cause the problem.

Take today’s food insecurity problem in Africa. Agricultural yields are dropping and the African population is expected to increase by 15-20 percent by 2050—making it absolutely critical that we address Africa’s food security crisis to close the productivity gap.

Without food security, social and economic development is not possible.

The LDCs need financial and technological support to adapt to climate change.

At the last FAO Regional Conference for Africa, in Abidjan last April, Ministers and Heads of Delegations called for considering the specific situation of smallholder farmers in supporting them  to adapt to climate change.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today countries are moving to put   the Paris agreement into action.

The agricultural sectors feature prominently in national pledges, with a view to scale up climate action in those sectors.

 And, according to FAO’s own analysis, 90 percent of developing countries’ pledges include adaptation measures in the agricultural sectors.

Adaptation remains the highest priority for vulnerable states.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

FAO is working closely with the Kingdom of Morocco to rally international support for the adaptation of agricultural sectors at COP22.

This is why FAO is developing an indicator framework for tracking adaptation in the agricultural sectors. This framework will be presented at COP22.

 In parallel, FAO is collaborating with IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute) to estimate the costs of adapting African agriculture to climate change.

Both will contribute to the new Adaptation of African Agriculture (Triple-A) Initiative developed by the Kingdom of Morocco and aiming at supporting African countries to adapt their agriculture and food systems to a changing climate - including by channelling climate finance to the agricultural sectors.

We must preserve the cooperative and collaborative spirit that led to success at COP21. To achieve the ambitions of the Paris Agreement, we must work on actions together.

Thank you.