Ambassador Majid Al Suwaidi, COP28 Director-General and Special Representative, asserted that the COP28 Presidency is focused on achieving a balanced package in the negotiations, noting that they hosted a stocktaking plenary to outline progress made at the technical level and hear feedback on building areas of convergence.

During a press conference held today in the Blue Zone of the 28th UN Climate Change Conference (COP28), as part of the Food, Agriculture and Water Day, Al Suwaidi said, ‘Food systems are extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change… and COP28 is proud to be elevating them to the highest level of discussions.’

He added that the COP28 Presidency is driving ‘momentum towards the objectives of the historic COP28 UAE Declaration on Agriculture, Food Systems and Climate Action, which was endorsed by 134 world leaders, representing 480 million farmers and 75 percent of global food production during the World Climate Action Summit last week’.

‘We have heard strong messages from develop
ing countries and as a result are asking parties to propose consensus solutions on the global goal on adaptation and further options on finance in the Global Stocktake,’ he stated.

“For over 700 million people across the world, hunger is a daily reality, and a further 3 billion people can’t afford to eat a nutritious diet. Quite simply, these are the symptoms of a broken food system, one that we want to begin to fix here in Dubai.

‘During the World Climate Action Summit, we saw the global community mobilise $2.5 billion to support the food-climate agenda. And the UAE and the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation launched a $200 million partnership for Food Systems, Agriculture Innovation and Climate Action.’

Al Suwaidi affirmed that ‘COP28 signals a turning point, embedding sustainable agriculture and food systems as critical components in both dealing with climate change and building food systems fit for the future’.

Source: Emirates News Agency