Our work
FAO's work on environmental sustainability spans four areas, each addressing a different pressure on agrifood systems:
- Scaling up bioeconomy as a pathway to sustainable, efficient use of biological resources
- Reducing pollution from agricultural plastics across the full lifecycle
- Delivering climate services and risk management to inform timely action
- Applying social and environmental safeguards that protect people and ecosystems in every FAO programme and investment
The work represents FAO on environmental matters within the UN system, including as its focal point for the Environment Management Group, spanning over 130 countries, engaging national governments, international negotiations and communities on the ground.
Our teams
Sustainable bioeconomy
Bioeconomy is a powerful yet underutilized approach to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and poverty. Rooted in agrifood systems, it sustains billions of livelihoods, particularly in developing countries where biological resources are most available. FAO is the first UN entity to make bioeconomy a strategic priority, helping countries develop their own bioeconomy strategies and plans, and implementing more than 100 projects around the world worth nearly USD 487 million.
Contact: [email protected]
- Advising governments on bioeconomy strategies and policies, with 28 countries and three regions having already adopted dedicated plans
- Supporting circular and cascading approaches that turn organic residues and waste into economic opportunity
- Advancing fair and equitable benefit-sharing so that small-scale producers, Indigenous Peoples, and rural communities share in the value they generate
- Driving global coordination and bringing together governments, partners, and knowledge systems to drive joint action
- Harmonizing the data and indicators needed to measure bioeconomy progress
Plastics in agriculture
Plastics are essential to modern agriculture, supporting productivity, resource efficiency, and climate adaptation. Yet around 13.4 million tonnes are used each year, accounting for 5.3% of global greenhouse gas emissions and creating growing risks to soils, food, and human and animal health. FAO works with governments and partners to close that gap through better policies, standards, and targeted action across the full plastics lifecycle.
Contact: [email protected]
- Developing standards and guidance, including the Voluntary Code of Conduct on the Sustainable Use and Management of Plastics in Agriculture (VCoC), a ready-to-use framework for sustainable plastics management in agriculture
- Advancing a One Health approach that addresses the interconnected risks of plastic pollution across ecosystems, animals, and people
- Supporting countries to integrate agricultural plastics action into national policy and legislative frameworks
- Building the evidence base on plastic contamination in soils, water, crops, and food systems, where major data and monitoring gaps remain
Climate risks
Climate-related disasters cause an estimated USD 99 billion in agricultural losses every year, hitting the 1.2 billion people who depend on agrifood systems hardest.
FAO works with countries to turn climate data into decisions: developing hydrometeorological capacities, operating early warning systems, conducting climate risk assessments, and managing the risks with agrometeorological advisories and anticipatory action that protect livelihoods under weather variability and climate change.
Contact: [email protected]
- Developing and deploying observation capacities, weather forecasts, early warning systems, anticipatory action triggers, andagrometeorological advisories that reach farmers with the lead time to act
- Conducting climate risk assessments that identify where climate change and extreme weather events impact the sector the greatest, and enable targeted, evidence-based investments and policies
- Connecting past climate trends, current weather conditions, and future forecasts and projections so countries can plan across timescales, from daily decisions to long-term adaptation
- Strengthening countries' access to and utility of actionable climate and agrometeorological information, particularly in LDCs where risk is highest and data gaps are most acute
Environmental and Social Safeguards
FAO’s Framework for Environmental and Social Management (FESM) sets the standards for managing environmental and social risks and impacts across projects and programmes implemented by FAO, while enhancing accountability and maximizing positive outcomes for people, communities and the environment. Environmental and social safeguards assist colleagues in anticipating risks early and incorporating appropriate measures throughout the project cycle. As a custodian of the FESM, the ESM Unit is responsible for implementing FAO's environmental and social risk management system and ensuring compliance with FESM requirements throughout the project cycle.
Contact: [email protected]
- Supporting the implementation of the Framework for Environmental and Social Management (FESM) to identify, assess, manage, and monitor environmental and social risks and impacts across FAO-supported programmes and projects.
- Promoting sustainable, inclusive, and risk-informed development by integrating environmental and social considerations into project design, implementation, and decision-making.
- Strengthening stakeholder engagement, accountability, and grievance redress to ensure meaningful participation, transparency, and responsiveness throughout the design and implementation of FAO programmes and projects.
- Leveraging digital innovation and data-driven tools to strengthen environmental and social risk management, corporate monitoring, transparency, reporting, and informed decision-making across FAO programming.