FAO 04/11/2022

London - FAO Director-General QU Dongyu today conveyed his deep appreciation to HM King Charles III for his long-standing commitment to tackling the climate crisis and global hunger at a pre-COP 27 Reception, hosted by His Majesty the King at Buckingham Palace.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) will be held from 6 to 18 November 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

“You have been the global champion for food and agriculture during the past decades” Qu said in his address to HM King Charles III, expressing his deep appreciation for the King’s historical contribution to advocate for global public awareness on climate change and food security.

The Director-General re-affirmed FAO’s commitment to work hand-in-hand with HM King Charles III to turn strategies into concrete actions, and conveyed appreciation for HM’s support for the collective goal of achieving the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life for all, leaving no one behind.

To this end, he pointed out that FAO had adopted the Strategic Framework for the next 10 years (2022-31) to support Members to transform their agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable.

Among other crucial FAO strategies recently adopted by Members, the Director-General cited the new FAO Strategy on Climate Change 2022-2031, FAO Science and Innovation Strategy,  FAO Strategy on Mainstreaming Biodiversity across Agricultural Sectors, and FAO Strategy for Private Sector Engagement 2021-2025.

The Director-General informed His Majesty the King of the planned World Food Day ceremony and the World Food Forum in 2023, which will be dedicated to fighting climate change, empowering youth and women, promoting science and innovation, and highlighting the need to speed up the transformation of agrifood systems through comprehensive investment plans through the FAO Hand-in-Hand initiative.

The Director-General stressed that FAO needed His Majesty’s “consistent and strong advocacy in our future endeavors”.

https://www.fao.org/director-general/news/news-article/en/c/1617013/