Food Systems and the role of the Rio conventions on biodiversity, climate change and desertification

Wednesday 10 November 2021
13:15 – 14:45 UK time (UTC, Please Note DST end on 31 Oct)

Unsustainable agriculture practices lead to increased pressures on land and deforestation and are the primary drivers of biodiversity loss. Food systems are responsible for up to 30% of global emissions. These challenges are interconnected and so are their solutions. To achieve the SDGs, we need to redesign our food systems through agro-ecological approaches that minimize pressures on biodiversity, climate, land and water, shift paradigm towards sustainable consumption and production and rethink our agricultural support schemes. The outcomes of the UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) offer an opportunity to take the necessary steps towards sustainable and healthy food systems.

This event will discuss how the Rio Conventions can build on the outcomes of the UNFSS and identify links between the multi-stakeholder initiatives that emerged from the Summit and commitments under the Rio Conventions, for example, links to Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

Moderator

• Ms. Kehkashan Basu, Founder-President, Green Hope Foundation

Speakers

• Hon. Amie Fabureh, Minister of Agriculture, The Gambia

Panelists

• Martina Fleckenstein, Global Policy Manager Food, WWF International 
• Prof. Saleemul Huq, Director, the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD);  Former Chair, Action Track 5, UN Food Systems Summit
• Mr. Juan Lucas Restrepo,  Director General, the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
• Ms. Patricia Kombo, UNCCD Land Hero
• Mr. David Cooper, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity
• Mr. Motsomi Maletjane, Team Lead, Adaptation Committee Unit, Adaptation Division, UNFCCC
• Ms. Agnes Kalibata, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General for the Food Systems Summit