“Developing an enabling environment for low emission and climate smart and resilient agriculture in Palau” is an FAO project that was created following the approval of a GCF Readiness proposal, which was initiated by LEGN and developed in collaboration with the FAO Subregional Office for the Pacific (SAP) and the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP).

On 2 September 2025, FAO’s Development Law Service (LEGN), with the support of FAO Forestry Team, hosted the online side event “Strengthening Forest Legislation in Latin America and the Caribbean: ForestLEX+”, as part of the Session of the Latin American and Caribbean Forestry Commission, held in Panama City. 

The FAO-led Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme, of which the Development Law Service is an integral partner, supports countries with policy and legal reform regarding sustainable management of wildlife and related sectors. An analysis of the entire policy and legal framework in Namibia for SWM was presented to government and industry stakeholders during a workshop held on 22 May 2025 in Windhoek, Namibia. 

FAO is renewing and strengthening its efforts to meet the global climate emergency with its new Strategy on Climate Change and related action plan, which are expected to be endorsed by the FAO Council in June 2022.  The Strategy will provide FAO with a vision and a shared accountability framework for positioning agrifood systems and FAO’s work at the forefront of global efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change.

Transforming agri-food systems to make them more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable is key to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 “Hunger Zero”. FAO acknowledges this through its Strategic Framework 2022-2031 which includes a better environment as an aspirational goal. One way to achieve a better environment is through its global legal protection and global recognition of the human right to a healthy environment.

The One Health approach recognizes the interface between human, animal and environmental health, and the urgent need to address these issues in a holistic manner. By developing knowledge and foresight on emerging threats to health and their consequences, as well as on resilience to disease and health improvement, the intrinsic value of this approach is being increasingly recognized as a multi-faceted lens through which to achieve sustainable agricultural production and global health.

On 12 October 2021, William Ross Edeson (Bill to his friends, colleagues and acquaintances), long time Senior Legal Officer with the FAO Legal Office (1988 to 2003) succumbed to a long illness that he had been coping with for many years in the latter part of his life. His passing ended a rich and active life as a family man, colleague, mentor and friend to many and a professional journey as a legal scholar, philosopher and practitioner, spanning many universities, regional and international organizations, countries, regions and continents.

The Codex Alimentarius defines antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as “the ability of a microorganism to multiply or persist in the presence of an increased level of an antimicrobial agent relative to the susceptible counterpart of the same species” (Codex Alimentarius Commission, 2011, p. 4). AMR refers to microorganisms – bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites – that have acquired resistance to antimicrobial (AM) substances (FAO, 2016).

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, formerly OIE) have worked together for decades to address risks at the human–animal–environment interface. Since the adoption of the Manhattan principles in 2004 and the Berlin principles in 2019, the approach used has become known as “One Health”.  

Thirty percent of the world’s population suffers from food insecurity. At the same time, agrifood systems account for more than thirty percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to environmental and ecosystem degradation. The pursuit of environmental protection and the transformation to sustainable agrifood systems to feed the world now and in the future are both legitimate and urgent national and international goals.   

At the international level, ‘customary law’ has been defined as a set of: ‘customs that are accepted as legal requirements or obligatory rules of conduct; practices and beliefs that are so vital and intrinsic a part of a social and economic system that they are treated as if they were laws’.

There are 476 million Indigenous people globally and more than half of these are women. Their unique cultures, knowledge and traditional practices are valuable contributions to biodiversity and are indispensable for the conservation of ecosystems. Indigenous women (IW) in the rural world have a fundamental role to play as guardians of ancestral knowledge, as they are often the ones who care for, procure and manage the natural resources they need, such as water and fuelwood, seeds and medicinal plants. Moreover, they play a key role in passing on traditional knowledge to younger generations.

Supporting the drafting of a nation’s laws is a delicate and often intricate task. In a subject where international law and standards exist, the drafting exercise can be guided by an international instrument or even specific rules of international law. However, even in such cases, there will always be national requirements that need to be met or particularities of a country that will need to be reflected in its national legislation.

On 20 September 2023, during the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), Members adopted a new Political Declaration on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR). This landmark Declaration was approved in the context of the United Nations (UN) High-Level Meeting on PPPR with the theme “Making the world safer: creating and maintaining political momentum and solidarity for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response”.

Misuse and overuse of antimicrobials are nowadays considered the main drivers in the development and rapid spread of drug-resistant pathogens, globally known as antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In addition to the natural occurrence of AMR, which is a biological process that occurs over time, the evidence shows that the rate of increase in AMR is being triggered, in large part, by the actions and choices of humans.

The digital transformation of agrifood systems is accelerating globally, driven by the emergence of technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and blockchain. These technologies are having a profound effect on agriculture, enhancing precision, productivity and real-time decision-making capabilities (Trendov, Varas & Zeng, 2019). IoT sensors, for example, can monitor diverse agricultural variables, ranging from soil moisture to livestock health, enabling farmers to make more informed choices.

The livelihoods of many rural and coastal communities greatly depend on the utilization of multiple species of wild animals and plants. Once these species get listed in the Appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), States Parties must ensure that their national legislation provides for their sustainable utilization, pursuant to CITES requirements.

Over the last decade, front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPNL) has become a crucial measure in public health efforts to combat non-communicable diseases (NCDs).[1] By presenting nutritional information prominently at the front of the package, FOPNL assists consumers to make more informed dietary choices.