An interdisciplinary approach is necessary to ensure that food, energy and climate are jointly addressed, trade-offs considered, and appropriate safeguards are put in place. These issues will not be addressed through a single initiative. Because of its importance, scope and complexity, this challenge must be met through participation of a broad constituency of interested parties. This demands a multi partner international effort to implement energy-smart solutions in a non fragmented and cost effective way. Within this context, FAO proposes setting up an “Energy Smart Food for People and Climate”Multi-Partner Programme to be launched in 2012. The aim of the Programme is to address the energy dimension in relation to food security and energy poverty and should be seen as an essential component to climate-smart agriculture.

In this issue, we discuss the Global Bioenergy Partnership and the important work it is undertaking – in collaboration with governments and international organizations - to establish sustainability indicators for bioenergy projects. We also report on the Food for the Cities Initiative, an integrative approach to coordinating FAO’s activities in urban and peri-urban areas and sharing best practices with other international and civil society organizations. Finally, we introduce the new water report: Climate change, water and food security.

Small-scale farmers are globally the largest farmer group and of key importance to local and national food security in developing countries. Therefore safely integrating, intensifying and thus increasing food and energy production for this large group of producers may have the best prospect to improve both local (rural) and national food and

energy security and reduce poverty and environmental impact at the same time. While biomass has been – and continues to be – the primary energy source for the rural poor in developing countries, it has also been of special interest in developed countries in recent years, mainly due to the production of liquid biofuels for transport. This has caused strong controversy, mainly regarding the potential risk that the production of biofuels may pose to food security of the rural poor in developing countries, but also regarding issues related to global climate change.