Bilateral meeting with the COP28 President-designate UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, H.E. Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber

Rome - Today the FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, met with H.E. Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, COP28 President-designate UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology.

The Director-General welcomed the Minister to FAO, stressing FAO's commitment to promoting agrifood systems solutions to the climate crisis. In this context, the Director-General reiterated FAO’s support for the United Arab Emirates COP28 presidency ensuring that agrifood systems are placed at the center of discussions.

The Director-General referred to FAO’s work in supporting Members in meeting climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, promoting agrifood system solutions, and the importance of the food-water-energy nexus.

H.E Minister Al Jaber expressed the United Arab Emirates' appreciation for FAO’s continued key role in strengthening the link between food security and climate on the global agenda.

The Minister referred to the leader's declaration to be launched at the World Climate Action Summit at COP28 emphasizing that it will be a crucial step in emphasizing the critical importance of agrifood systems to the lives and livelihood of people. 

The Director-General also highlighted the work being done for the roadmap to achieve SDG2 and the 1.5 degrees goal through the Food and Agriculture Sustainable Transformation (FAST) initiative.

The two sides agreed to continue coordination in the lead to COP28, ensuring that the water-energy-food nexus can support food security and sustainable agriculture worldwide.