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Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, recently participated in the Global Leaders’ Symposium during the Food For Future Summit & Expo 2022 in the presence of other ministerial delegations, prominent executives from non-profit organizations, and leading industry experts from the food value chain worldwide.
The Summit is aimed at serving as the definitive platform for dialogue to drive positive change in regional and global food systems as well as exploring new solutions to address the challenges faced by global food security.
The inaugural edition of the event in the MENA region was hosted by the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the SDG 2 Advocacy Hub between February 23-24 at Expo 2020 Dubai.
Day one of the Summit was organised under the theme 'Roadmaps & Global Food Alliances'. It saw a strong line-up of leading speakers from around the world, including Paul Newnham, Director of the SDG2 Advocacy Hub; Abdulhakim Elwaer, Assistant Director-General of FAO; Martien Van Nieuwkoop, Global Director for Agriculture and Food at the World Bank Group; Dr Agnes Kalibata, President of AGRA; Dr Gunhild Stordalen, Founder and Executive Chair of EAT Foundation; and Enock Chikava, Interim Director for Agricultural Development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Furthermore, other members of ministerial delegations from countries like the Bahamas and Ukraine also addressed the audience during the session.
Mariam Almheiri addressed the participants during the opening session of the Summit. In her keynote speech, Mariam Almheiri underlined the impact of global food systems, including one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. She discussed how climate change is disrupting food supply, food availability, livelihoods, and human health, underlining the need to act decisively to resolve the worsening problems.
"These interlinked challenges require us to think about how we can guide actions to sustainably increase food production, adapt and build resilience to climate change, and explore ways to decarbonize the global food system," the Minister added.
Later, she launched the first-of-its-kind 'Food for Life' community awareness and engagement campaign aimed at addressing the nexus of health, nutrition, and planetary well-being by promoting healthy diets from sustainable food systems. The initiative is jointly run by MOCCAE, the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention, Emirates Nature-WWF, and FAO.
Addressing the gathering, the Minister underlined the need for connecting people with food in order to raise awareness about the origin of the food and how to eat and live mindfully. She noted that a few small changes can created a domino effect to address the massive problem of food insecurity.
"We want our diets to be safe, diverse, balanced, and based on nutritious foods. Wherever possible, we want them (people) to consciously opt for food that is locally produced to minimize its carbon footprint. Because a few small changes adopted by many people can create a domino effect that ultimately results in a huge impact. And improving our diets is one of the greatest impacts we can have on both our health and our environment," Mariam Almheiri noted.
Following the launch, she accompanied VIP guests for a tour of the farmers market where they were provided with samples of the best of the UAE’s fresh homegrown produce and other locally made food products.
On day two of the Summit, the minister joined the participants in a high-level ministerial event themed ‘Food Systems Transformation in Action: The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition (VGFSN)’.
The event was jointly hosted by the UAE Government and CFS as part of the MENA Agri-Food Innovation Days to strengthen agrifood systems transformation in the region. The CFS VGFSN is a robust tool providing guidance for governments, UN agencies, civil society, private sector, financial institutions, and other development actors related to policies and interventions with the aim of addressing malnutrition in all its forms using a holistic ‘food systems’ perspective.
She addressed the event, highlighting the magnitude of the challenges faced by the global food systems. She noted that current food systems worldwide have an adverse impact on the public health as well as are putting immense pressure on environmental resources.
"Despite the global community’s drive to meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 and ensure zero hunger by 2030, we cannot but feel we are not moving fast enough. Failing to supply sufficient, safe, healthy, and affordable food has put the world on a trajectory to both obesity and malnutrition," the Minister added.
In conclusion, she underlined the various measures taken by the UAE to resolve these challenges by implementing climate-smart agricultural methods, leveraging innovation, and building partnerships.
The UAE is undertaking various measures to promote appropriate food choices for its community in line with the robust CFS VGFSN initiative.
"Helping countries integrate nutrition into their national food security and climate plans, the Guidelines bring all relevant sectors under one umbrella to build sustainable food systems," the Minister noted.
SOURCE: WAM