IAEA Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Science, Technology and Applications Opening Remarks

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues,

I wish to thank my esteemed colleague and dear friend, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi for inviting me to this strategic Ministerial Conference.

Over the past 60 years, FAO and the IAEA have established a strong partnership that has led to many successes for our Members. We have collectively made significant efforts and put forward resources to advance global food security and nutrition, and sustainable agricultural development, through the safe and appropriate application of nuclear science and technologies.

Yet, today, 8.5 percent of the world population live below the extreme poverty line., and 9.1 percent of the world population faced chronic hunger in 2023. About 2.8 billion people could not afford a healthy diet. Globally, more than three-quarters of the extreme poor lived in rural areas.

Urgent action and innovative solutions are critical.

There are no easy answers, but our joint strength is that we know what works: climate adapted and resilient technologies, and widely accessible and affordable science-based solutions are proven ways to build efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems.

To transform our global agrifood systems, our fight against overlapping crises can only take place through political commitment, enabling policies and coherent partnerships.

We need to realize that science, technology and innovation are the key factors and cost-effective investments to ensure we can achieve SDG2, and all the SDGs.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This year marks the 60th Anniversary of the FAO-IAEA partnership, which is the only physical joint center within the UN big family.

Our results show the value of our joint state-of-the-art research and development, improved and increased capacity, and applications of nuclear and related technologies, which are helping scientists and agronomists around the world boost food production, ensuring sufficient and nutritious food for all, and contributing to the well-being of farmers, producers, consumers, and local communities.

Technologies, such as nuclear-based plant mutation breeding, have produced new crop varieties that exhibit improved quality, higher yields, greater resilience to climate change and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses.

Irradiating food with electron beams, X-rays or gamma rays, are helping countries ensure that their imports and exports of fresh fruit and vegetables are free from pests, to prevent food-borne illnesses, and extend the shelf life of food products.

Furthermore, nuclear techniques have provided tools to diagnose, monitor, prevent and tackle transboundary animal and zoonotic diseases, as well as to improve soil fertility, which is essential for biodiversity conservation and production of healthy foods.

Dear Colleagues,

We need to produce more with less.

We must urgently scale up efforts, in partnership, to ensure that there will not be 600 million hungry people in 2030.

Nuclear science is at the heart of Atoms4Food – the initiative that Director-General Grossi and I proudly launched together during the World Food Forum 2023 in Rome.

This Initiative demonstrates our continuous commitment to working together, and together with Members, for tailored solutions.

Under the Atoms4Food Initiative, we can expand our global reach to find innovative solutions that are more available, more accessible and more affordable for Members.

Dear Friends,

Last week in Rio de Janeiro, the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, under the G20 Brazilian Presidency, was endorsed by 81 heads of states, 31 UN agencies and other international entities, and 33 non-state organizations, and offers a new important mechanism to support our efforts to promote coordinated action and share experiences among and beyond G20 members.

FAO proudly hosts the Support Mechanism of the Global Alliance, in close collaboration with the other UN agencies and international financial institutions.

At the heart of the Global Alliance lies a fundamental principle that the power of collective action from Lab to Land, from Paper to Production, will lead game changes through the implementation of evidence-based policy instruments, scientech solutions and farmers’ empowerment.

Today this Ministerial Conference provides a strategic opportunity to strengthen thinking, learning, working and growing together, for efficient, effective and coherent collaboration to ensure the Four Betters on the ground: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life – leaving no one behind.

Thank you.