BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 19. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will continue its collaboration with the COP29 presidency to ensure the successful implementation of the Baku Harmoniya climate initiative for farmers, said Viorel Gutu, FAO Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia, Trend reports.
Speaking at the launch of the initiative at COP29 in Baku, Gutu emphasized the urgent need to provide small farmers and producers with the necessary resources, capacity, and support to implement solutions in the agri-food system.
"We can and must transform our agri-food systems to combat poverty and hunger, protect our planet, and ensure a brighter and more sustainable future for all. And the key word here is together," he said.
He further noted that the climate crisis, the lack of global food security, and unsustainable agri-food systems are closely interconnected.
"Climate change is one of the main causes of food insecurity in the world, where around 730 million people still suffer from hunger," he added.
The representative stressed that agri-food systems play a crucial role in ensuring food security and addressing challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, and water scarcity. Over the past decade, significant progress has been made in developing initiatives, coalitions, networks, alliances, and partnerships related to the integration of agri-food systems, climate change, and financing.
"Here, at this year’s COP29 in Baku, we are launching the 'Baku Harmoniya' climate initiative. We need closer coordination to implement more effective climate actions and accelerate the transformation of agri-food systems. We are pleased to see that the drive for better coordination is reflected in the initiative's first goal. We also hope that the collaboration between COP presidencies will ensure coherence and continuity of climate actions in the agri-food sector moving forward," Gutu noted.
To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which will run until November 22, opened at the Baku Olympic Stadium on November 11. It is the largest event organized by Azerbaijan to date, and the first time in the region that it is being held in Azerbaijan.
Within COP29, the highest level event - the summit of world leaders on climate action – was held on November 12–13.
The main expectation from COP29 is to agree on a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantitative Goal (NCQG) on climate finance. The COP29 Presidency has launched 14 initiatives that include linkages between climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals, including green energy corridors, green energy storage, harmony for climate resilience, clean hydrogen, methane reduction in organic waste, action on green digital technologies, and other topics.
In addition to being a top priority that creates the conditions for action, creating climate finance will also help fulfill the 1.5°C pledge by bringing everyone together.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference in the climate system. The acronym COP (Conference of Parties) stands for “Conference of Parties” and is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change.
A total of 198 countries are parties to the Convention. Unless otherwise decided by the parties, COP is held annually. The first COP event was held in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.
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