Daily updates: FAO at UNGA78 and SDG Summit
Daily updates from FAO at the SDG Action Weekend, SDG Summit and high-level week of the 78th Session of the General Assembly.
©UN Photo/ Manuel Elias
New York - The 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly marks a crucial milestone in the journey towards achieving the 2030 Agenda and the urgent need to put the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) back on track.
The world will come together around the theme ‘Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all.
Food security, nutrition and efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems are critical for achieving the 2030 Agenda. They contribute to ending poverty, improving health and education outcomes, empowering women, ensuring the optimized use of natural resources as well as sustainable consumption and production, creating decent jobs and livelihood opportunities, reducing inequalities and rural-urban disparities, and tackling the climate crisis and biodiversity loss. Read FAO key messages for the SDG Summit 2023.
Check this page daily for FAO's involvement at UNGA 78, SDG Summit, and Climate Week.
Thursday, September 13, 2023
Climate Week “Food and Agriculture as a Solution to the Climate Crisis”
Ahead of the SDG Summit, Stefanos Fotiou, Director of the Office of Sustainable Development Goals participated in a Fireside chat with Jocelyn Zuckerman, James Beard Award-winning journalist at the Food Tank Climate Week Summit, “Food and Agriculture as a Solution to the Climate Crisis.” In the discussion, Fotiou underlined the importance of aligning financial systems with food systems transformation - a key topic that will be on the table during UNGA 78.
Sunday, September 17, 2023
SDG ACTION WEEKEND: HIGH-LEVEL SESSION ON THE HIGH IMPACT INITIATIVE ON FOOD SYSTEMS TRANSFORMATION
FAO kicked off the SDG Acceleration Day with the ‘High-Level Session on the High Impact Initiative on Food Sytems Transformation.' “Global agrifood systems are at the nexus of high-priority SDGs,” said QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General. The session featured two panels providing Ministerial and partner agency actions to accelerate progress on the SDGs. [Article | Session Details]
SDG ACTION WEEKEND: HIGH-LEVEL SESSION ON THE HIGH IMPACT INITIATIVE ON LOCALIZATION
UN-Habitat, UNDP and FAO, in collaboration Local2030 Coalition, co-organized a session titled "Local2030 Coalition: Pushing the Key Transitions and Achieving the SDGs by 2030.” The event featured panels on multi-level governance for the SDG transition and financing for localization. “Solutions and experiences come at the local level,’’ underscored FAO Director-General in his closing remarks. [Article | Session Details]
FAO also contributed to the High Impact Initiatives on Nature Driving Economic Transformation and Decent Jobs for Youth.
FAO AT UNGA 78
On the sidelines of the 78th session of UNGA, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu met with H.E. Azali Assoumani, President of the Union of the Comoros and current Chairperson of the African Union, and reaffirmed FAO’s ongoing and increased support and technical assistance to the Comoros. [Read out]
Monday, September 18, 2023
SDG Summit Forests for our Future
On the opening day of the SDG Summit, FAO hosted a high-level event titled ‘Forests for our Future' to launch the Collaborative Partnership on Forests' (CPF) Call to Action for Forests towards 2030. The event, moderated by Her Royal Highness Princess Basma bint Ali of Jordan and FAO Goodwill Ambassador, featured Member States and CPF agency heads who outlined how they are building momentum to strengthen the implementation of forest solutions in pursuit of the SDGs and other global commitments. “Green should be the color of the future,” said QU Dongyu, Director-General, in his opening statement. [Article]
FAO at the SDG Summit
At the SDG Summit, Stefanos Fotiou, Director of the Office of Sustainable Development Goals and Food Systems Hub, participated in the SDG Pavilion session on "SDGs in the Second Half," alongside Agnes M. Kalibata, President, AGRA and Lana Weidgenant, Youth Vice Chair of the UN Food Systems Summit. [Watch the Session]
The Energy Now SDG7 Action Forum held a UN Energy Now Spotlight Conversation with Kaveh Zahedi, Director of the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment at FAO. [Watch the Interview]
FAO at UNGA 78
On the margins of UNGA 78, the FAO Director-General QU Dongyu met with H.E. Dr. Lazarus Chakwera, President of Malawi as well as the Honorable Minister M. Zh. Turgunbayev, Ministry of Ecology and Technical Supervision, Kyrgyz Republic. He also held a series of bilateral meetings with Mafalda Duarte, Executive Director, Green Climate Fund; Rabab Fatima, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS (OHRLLS); Isiaka Abdulqadir Imam, Secretary-General of the D-8 Organization; Michael Lodge, Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority Bilateral, and Rafael Grossi, Director General, IAEA.
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
SDG SUMMIT Ministerial Dialogue Scaling up action and investment for an integrated Biodiversity-Climate-Food Nexus approach
On day two of the SDG Summit and just ahead of the General Debate, the FAO Director-General QU Dongyu, held a Ministerial Dialogue, co-hosted with Canada, on the opportunities of scaling up action and investment for agrifood systems transformation as a solution to the biodiversity and climate crises. The event focused on the need for a Biodiversity-Climate-Food Nexus approach, which can allow nations to address those three critical issues, providing opportunities for accelerated progress. [Article]
FAO AT THE SDG SUMMIT
On the margins of the UNGA 78 General Debate, the FAO Director-General held bilateral talks with Zhang Ming, Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and Ambassador Paula Narvaez, President of ECOSOC and Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations.
Accompanied by the Chief Economist Máximo Torero, the FAO Director-General participated in the World Economic Forum Stewardship Board Meeting on Food Systems.
FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero joined WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain and IFAD President Alvaro Lario at a side event hosted by France on a "Call for Food Security." The session was chaired by Catherine Colonna French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs and brought attention to ongoing efforts to scale up action to address food crises. During the session, Torero underlined the need to build resilience through early-warning systems and increase countries' capacity to absorb shocks to come out of the cycle of crisis the world is confronting.
Stefanos Fotiou, Director of the FAO Office of SDGs and of the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub joined an SDG Media Zone panel on "Sustainable food systems and traditions," moderated by Alao Abiodun, The Nation Newspaper, RAF Fellow. Earlier in the day, Fotiou spoke at the panel on "Global Bio-Based Economy: Climate, Innovation, and Inclusivity Policy to Implementation," organized by the Business Council for International Understanding.
David Laborde, Director of the Economic and Social Development Division at FAO, also attending UNGA 78 participated in the Food System Economics Commission virtual event addressing the theme "A Quest to Repurpose Agricultural Support."
FAO AT CLIMATE WEEK
Ahead of the Climate Ambition Summit, Kaveh Zahedi, Director of the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment (OBC), engaged in a series of Climate Week activities and highlighted the importance of agri-food systems in providing solutions for the global challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and food crises.
At the Zayed Sustainability Prize Forum, Zahedi spoke on a panel focused on transforming food systems towards a path for food security. At "The Global Stocktake" event hosted at the Nature Hub focused on enhancing climate-nature-food synergies to accelerate food systems transformation, Zahedi shared that FAO will launch the Roadmap to achieving 1.5°C and SDG2 goal to end hunger. The Roadmap will present a set of agrifood solutions that will contribute to climate, biodiversity, and food security goals.
An Opportunity to Accelerate Transformation Through Enhanced Climate-Nature-Food Synergies," hosted at the Nature Hub. He also joined the high-level debate on "Cultivating Change," hosted by the Royal Consulate General of Denmark, where he was interviewed by Dan Jørgensen, Danish Minister for Development Corporation.
CLIMATE WEEK ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION MURAL UNVEILED
Created by Mexican artist Carlos Alberto and curated by New York-based non-profit Street Art for Mankind (SAM), a mural focused on the importance of the restoration of ecosystems was unveiled at the Javits Center in New York. Zhimin Wu, Director of the FAO Forestry Division provided remarks during the opening ceremony. The artwork is part of a series of Ecosystem Restoration Murals created around the world by SAM to spark dialogue among the public in support of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a global effort to halt and restore biodiversity to prevent catastrophic climate change by 2030.
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
FAO AT UNGA 78
On Wednesday, the FAO Director-General spoke at the side event, “Catalyzing global action for agrifood systems transformations to accelerate the SDGs.” The Director-General thanked the event co-organizers alongside FAO, Japan, Italy and the United Arab Emirates, for bringing together the presidencies of key multilateral processes in 2023: the G7, UN Food Systems Summit+2 Stocktaking Moment and the UN Climate Conference COP28. [Article]
Earlier in the day, FAO Director-General met with Michele Sison, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs at the U.S. Department of State and discussed working together to address the challenges in achieving global food security. In the afternoon, he met with the UNGA 78 President Dennis Francis, and emphasized FAO’s commitment to work together as One UN to deliver on 2022-23 FAO Strategic Framework on the 4 Better and the SDGs.
In the margins of the High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development, Maximo Torero, Chief Economist at FAO, participated in the UN Inter-Agency Task force on Financing for Development. “Transforming agrifood systems and financing for preventing, coping and mitigating food crises are at the core of dialogues underway on Financing for Sustainable Development,” said Torero.
FAO Chief Scientist Ismahane Elouafi delivered a keynote address at a side event at the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the UN titled “Towards Closing the Gap in Science, Technology and Innovation in Developing Countries.” At the event, Elouafi discussed the power of science, technology and agricultural innovation in transforming agrifood systems, while avoiding the 'technology divide.’ She also participated on the panel, “Leading Change on a Long and Winding Road of Consecutive Global Crisis” at the High-level Meeting of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center.
Following the Climate Ambition Summit, Kaveh Zahedi, Director of the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment at FAO, noted that the Summit was an important step in building momentum for COP 28 and that FAO is working closely with the COP28 Presidency to make agrifood systems a central part of the discussion. During the Action Lab on Food and Energy hosted at The Rockefeller Foundation, Zahedi presented actions to reduce fossil fuel dependency and improve energy intensity in food systems.
Zhimin Wu, Director of the FAO Forestry Division joined the launch of the International Sustainable Forestry Coalition that aims to bring the private sector to support the sustainable management of forests.
Thursday, September 21, 2023
FAO at UNGA 78
In the margins of the General Debate of UNGA 78, senior FAO leadership joined several key thematic discussions. At the “Taking Action on Global Food Insecurity” side event co-organized by Sweden and Zambia, with the support of the Global Network Against Food Crises, FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero underlined the unrelenting crisis of global food insecurity and the urgent need for action. “There exists a fundamental misalignment between what is needed and what is funded, between what affected people want and what they receive. Smallholder farmers, the backbone of global food production, require our support, yet Only four percent of humanitarian aid is allocated to protect agricultural livelihoods," said Torero. [Article]
At the World Biodiversity Summit that took place alongside UNGA 78 and Climate Week NYC, OCB Director Kaveh Zahedi drew attention to the lack of incentives to support the transition to more biodiversity-friendly food systems, but explained how there are good examples that must be accelerated and scaled up including the GEF Food Systems Integrated Programme and the newly launched Global Biodiversity Framework Fund. [Article]
Wrap-up
The SDG Summit as well as the discussions during the UNGA 78 witnessed a significant and increasing focus on agrifood systems transformation as a top priority on the global agenda. Leaders and policymakers from around the world convened during the high-level week to address pressing challenges, including food security, healthy diets and the climate and biodiversity crises. FAO's involvement in the high-level discussions underscored the organization's commitment to working collaboratively with its Members and international partners to support the 2030 Agenda through the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind. [Article]