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The Framework for Environmental and Social Management (FESM) establishes environmental and social performance requirements for FAO programming. The FESM includes key elements of a human rights-based approach with the goal to ensure that people and the environment are protected from any potential adverse impacts of FAO programmes and projects. It is also intended to ensure that all stakeholders have ample opportunities to actively participate in the activities of programmes and projects, and have access to effective channels to voice their concerns about them. The FESM reflects the organization’s commitment to sustainability with a new set of guiding principles, two operational [...]

The Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool (EX-ACT) is an appraisal system that provides estimates of the impact of agriculture and forestry development projects, programmes and policies on the carbon-balance. The carbon-balance is defined as the net balance from all greenhouse gases (GHGs) expressed in CO2 equivalent that were emitted or sequestered due to project implementation as compared with a business-as-usual scenario.  EX-ACT is a land-based accounting system, estimating emissions or sinks of CO2, as well as GHG emissions per unit of land. The tool helps project designers to prioritize project activities with benefits in economic and climate change mitigation terms. Find out more: EX-ACT Brochure YouTube-explanation [...]

The report uses a nutritional water productivity (NWP) framework to interpret the relationship between nutrition and water in the context of water challenges. It argues that higher yields – of both staple and nutritious crops – are possible, even in water-stressed areas. This will require an agricultural transformation that ensures that efforts to enhance water productivity are linked to the promotion of healthy diets.Increasing water productivity and stabilizing yields at realistic levels will also be crucial to increasing the resilience of farmers. Better coordination and timing of water and other inputs, notably fertilizers and improved seeds, is likely to enhance [...]

This brochure describes what the bioeconomy is. It looks at how the bioeconomy can contribute to sustainable production and consumption and resource-use efficient agri-food systems in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable manner and what the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is doing to support this.

In its 2020 communiqué, the International Advisory Council on Global Bioeconomy has urged to strengthen good practices and policies to advance the global bioeconomy.The transition from a fossil-based economy to a bioeconomy happens at three levels: technological, organizational and social. In particular, agri-food systems are key to achieve a shift to sustainable and circular production and consumption patterns, since they occupy the biggest share of the bioeconomy from an economic, value-added perspective as well as having potential for discovery and innovation.This Compendium outlines 250 sources of good practices and policies. It covers the entire continuum of economic sectors that have [...]

To promote the production, utilization, conservation and regeneration of biological resources in ways that support global food and nutrition security and sustainable development, it is necessary to have a holistic vision for a sustainable and circular bioeconomy. Through the International Sustainable Bioeconomy Working Group (ISBWG), a multistakeholder group established in 2016, FAO provides international support to increase national capacities to develop strategies and policies that can realize this vision for a transition towards sustainability.Aware that the implementation of bioeconomy involves potential synergies and trade-offs with regards to sustainability, the ISBWG proposes to mainstream a set of Aspirational Principles and Criteria [...]

Esta publicación presenta diez experiencias de colaboración intercultural escalables que demuestran la importancia, eficiencia y efectividad de trabajar de la mano de hombres, mujeres y jóvenes de pueblos indígenas y afrodescendientes de América Latina y el Caribe en la búsqueda de soluciones prácticas desarrolladas a partir de la sinergia entre el conocimiento ancestral y la innovación científica y tecnológica.Los pueblos indígenas y afrodescendientes son dos de los grupos rurales con mayor potencial para contribuir a la mitigación del cambio climático en la región. Ambos grupos están altamente expuestos a los desastres naturales y los efectos del clima en la agricultura [...]

The document summarizes the report that, based on a review of more than 250 studies, demonstrates the importance and urgency of climate action to protect the forests of the indigenous and tribal territories of Latin America as well as the indigenous and tribal peoples who protect them. These territories contain about a third of the continent's forests. That's 14% of the carbon stored in tropical forests around the world; These territories are also home to an enormous diversity of wild fauna and flora and play a key role in stabilizing the local and regional climate.Based on an analysis of the [...]

This policy brief is one in a series led by Chulalongkorn University with support from the Office of the Higher Education Commission, Ministry of Education, Thailand, in partnership with FAO. The series was initiated to support the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Work Plan on Education, 2016–2020 implementation while Thailand was Chair of ASEAN in 2019 under the theme: “Advancing Partnership for Sustainability.” The Briefs offer critical interdisciplinary perspectives on agri-food systems from social and sustainability sciences. They are fully aligned with the regional initiative on Food System Transformation and are meant to support the work engaged with ASEAN.This [...]

This document is a special update of the recent FAO analysis, “Climate finance in the agriculture and land use sector – global and regional trends between 2000 and 2018” and includes newly released data for 2019. Climate finance is a fundamental element of the global development agenda and has been accelerating in the past years. The recent FAO analysis identified that between 2000 and 2018 the share of global climate finance in the agriculture and land use sector decreased, passing from an average of 45 percent of the total flows at the beginning of the millennium, to 24 percent in [...]