During a pivotal conversation focused on feeding 8 billion people around the world, the president of Cop27 Sharm El-Sheikh said that it was crucial that countries create initiatives that build a resilient pathway for adaption. Especially when it comes to climate change and agriculture.
El-Sheikh, who is also the foreign affairs minister of Egypt, said, “We must ensure that our food systems are equipped to provide communities around the world with food that is produced in an inclusive, responsible, and sustainable way.”
He further explained that 43 million people suffer annually due to the lack of food, and creating an “inclusive” community will be able to develop a sustainable food security system.
“This is a wake-up call for implementation. Initiatives such as Fast (Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation]) are critical in today’s world, where geopolitical shifts and extreme weather events can cause massive disruption to food supply chains that hurt the world’s poorest, and exacerbate hunger and malnutrition,” said El-Sheikh.
Light at the end of the tunnel
The entire day was set aside to have conversations with various people – from policymakers, researchers, and government, to civil society and scientists. The talking points ranged from adaption to agriculture, food security and climate change.
Also on the agenda was how to avert, minimise, and address loss and damage to infrastructure, shaping the way forward for adaptation and adaptation innovations and technologies.
Food security systems had quite a number of challenges this year; with 37 million people possibly facing starvation in Africa, not to mention the constant droughts in Pakistan, as well as major agricultural countries that was impacted by global warming.
“Europe and the United States have led to drastically reduced crop yields. Russia’s war in Ukraine has caused global shortages and price hikes in wheat, oilseeds and fertiliser, underscoring the fragility of the fossil-fuel dependent food industry that has sacrificed diversity, sustainability and resilience for mass production and profits,” the Cop27 presidency said.
Meanwhile, there is light at the end of the tunnel thanks to four initiative that aims to restore the dignity of the African people. Fast, Climate Responses for Sustaining Peace (CRSP), Decent Life for a Climate Resilient Africa and Initiative on Climate Action and Nutrition (I-CAN) is said to urgently transform agrisystems, integrate with peace, and improve the quality of life by 2030 in Africa.
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