 Distinguished participants, friends, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to this high level segment of the global dialogue on the role of food and agriculture in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. I'm David Cooper, the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and I have the honour of co-facilitating this second panel discussion on the global biodiversity framework, supporting biodiversity for food and agriculture, recent initiatives and approaches. I'll be facilitating this session together with my friend and colleague, Eduardo Mansour of FAO. As you know, this global dialogue is being convened jointly by FAO and the Convention on Biological Diversity. And on behalf of the Convention Secretariat, I'd like to express our deep appreciation to FAO for organising this event together with us and for our long-standing cooperation. I'd also like to express appreciation to all the presenters and panellists so far, and indeed to all the participants for the excellent inputs and lively discussions we've had over these two days so far. You'll have heard an interim report earlier today and the co-chairs will provide an updated report at the end of this session. The lively discussion so far has reinforced what we know to be true. Food and agriculture, crops, livestock, fisheries, aquaculture and forestry all depends on biodiversity and all aspects of biodiversity, from genetic resources of crops and livestock to soil microbes, from pollinators to the natural enemies of pests. This biodiversity and the way we manage it is important for agricultural productivity, for sustainability, and to ensure nutritious foods and a healthy planet. And this means that when we look at the future of biodiversity, including when we look at the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, nothing is more important than the way we manage these sectors. Everyone is involved, businesses, farmers and fisherfolk, and in particular, let's not forget the importance of small-scale farmers and fisherfolk in providing us with most of the food we consume, and of course all of us who depend on these sectors for food. To meet the goals and targets of the new framework and indeed also to meet our climate goals and to meet the sustainable development goals, we'll need to transform the way we manage food and agriculture to ensure that not only will it meet the increasing demands for food, but also do so sustainably. This issue will be central to discussions at a number of summits this year. The upcoming UN Food Systems Summit and the pre-summit, they'll also be hosted by FAO shortly. The Climate Conference, COP26, and of course above all, in terms of this meeting now, the UN Biodiversity Conference, will be held in Kunming, China this year. And that leads me to introduce our first speaker and indeed we're very honoured to have with us at this meeting Ministers of Environment and Agriculture from a number of countries who are playing a leading role in integrating environment and agriculture. It's a particular honour and a privilege for me now to introduce the incoming President of the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity, His Excellency Minister Huang Ruxiu, Minister of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China. Minister Huang and his colleagues have been tireless in their efforts to prepare for COP15 in the beautiful city of Kunming in Yunnan province, the most biodiverse and ethnically diverse part of China. The plans have had to change as we struggle to adapt to the ongoing pandemic. And therefore we're especially grateful for these ongoing remarkable efforts to prepare for this meeting. And let me introduce the Minister of Ecology and Environment, the People's Republic of China, Your Excellency Huang Ruxiu, you have the floor. Thank you very much. Thank you very much to my old friend, David, for your support. The Honourable Secretary-General, Ms. Murema, ladies and gentlemen, good evening, good afternoon, good evening. I am very happy to represent the Ministry of Environment of China to take part in this conversation. As one of the most rich countries in the United States and the United States, China has always been at a high level of importance, and it is the key point of its protection against sustainable development. The Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out that the foundation of sustainable development is the goal and the means. In the past 10 years, China has completed 7,000 390,000 hectares of land, 1,776,000 hectares of land, and 1,776,000 hectares of land. The ecological protection line is no less than 25% of the land land area. The natural security area of each country is more than 170 million square kilometers. More than 18% of the land land area, more than 90% of the land ecological system, and more than 85% of the annual wild animals, have had effective protection. It has also achieved recovery growth. At the same time, China has actively opened up international cooperation. We have shared the wisdom and power of China for the whole world. As the Secretary of State of China, we have held the 15th meeting, i.e. COP15, of the East China Sea and of the West China Sea. We are currently working on the introduction of COP15, just like Mr. David just talked about. We are currently working on the introduction of COP15. i.e. we have confirmed the theme of the meeting, the meeting, and the website. Due to the impact of COP15, we have passed two-person adjustment. Now we have confirmed that on October 11th to 24th this year, the theme of the meeting will be the ecosystem civilization to build a global civil society. We have expressed our respect for the future beauty. The meeting is a water drop-shaped meeting that consists of different elements. It combines the traditional culture of China and various natural symbols. It fully reflects the diversity of biological diversity and culture. COP15's East China Sea website has recently been launched. Please pay attention to it. The second meeting is over. According to the meeting, and the adjustment of the meeting, we have fixed the meeting plan. During COP15, China will hold a high-level meeting with the government of the East China Sea, and invite the deputy director of the region to attend. We look forward to the high-level meeting through the political propaganda led by the East China Sea, i.e. we are talking about public propaganda. We will make a good political leadership action for the meeting. Third, we will continue to promote the worship of various parallel activities. We will organize a meeting with the deputy director of the region, and strengthen political leadership and support for COP15. Considering the impact, we will continue to develop the situation of parallel activities in the region. The scientific forum will be held on April 13, and the World Environmental Justice Conference will be held on May 27-28 in Kunming. We will have a meeting with the government of the East China Sea, the city council, the cultural and cultural council, and other parallel activities. We will also have a meeting with the deputy director of the region. Ladies and gentlemen, COP15 has entered the stage of the countdown. The international community is highly interested in this meeting, which is an important point that will turn the world's ecological peace and prosperity into an important solution. I think it is very important to have a few points. First, we need to bring together to improve the balance. We need to hold on to multilateralism to strengthen the international dialogue, to promote the and the recovery of the ecosystem, and the expansion of resources, and the increase of investment, and the recovery of natural and ecosystem in the future, the security, health, and other challenges of the security, health, and other systems. Third, the rapid change and the implementation of the implementation of the security, health, and security system. We must ensure that the security is determined and implemented in the priority position. In the food system, the basic system is investment, construction, energy, and land use, and so on, to take effective measures, push the implementation, and turn the change. The main goal of COMP-15 is to achieve the expansion of the ecosystem in the future. To solve the global ecosystem loss problem, the protection of the ecosystem with global sustainable agriculture and food security, and the expansion of the ecosystem in the future. We look forward to the development of the COMP-15 and the development of the ecosystem in the future. We look forward to the development of COMP-15 and the development of the ecosystem in the future. I want to take this opportunity to give you a piece of information and to give you a piece of information to express our resentment. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Your Excellency, Minister Huang, Thank you for outlining the remarkable efforts China has undertaken to protect and sustainably use its biodiversity to restore its lands, to expand protected areas and ecological red lines, all contributing towards building an ecological civilization. And thank you for updating us on the preparations for COP 15. We are all looking forward to be able to celebrate COP 15 in Kunming and to move towards adopting the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. And above all, thank you for the call for action by all countries at the national level and at the global level to move forward with our multilateral collaboration and our national implementation to ensure that we meet our goals. The road to Kunming was, thank you, Shuixing, the road to Kunming. Thank you, David. Thank you, David. I am very excited that we can meet in Kunming or anywhere in China. Thank you. Thank you very much. And of course, the road to Kunming was set at our last meeting of the Conference of the Parties in Sharm or Sheik, Egypt, COP 14. Indeed, when we established together, China, Egypt, and the secretariat, the Sharm or Sheik to Kunming Action Agenda, and the road to Kunming, the preparation of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, was organised thanks to the efforts of the Egyptian Presidency, and I'd like to pay tribute to the efforts of Her Excellency Dr Yasmin Fuad, Minister for the Environment of Egypt, who has continued to play an important role as we move towards COP 15. Unfortunately, Dr Fuad has been called into a cabinet meeting and is unable to join us at this moment, but she is going to present a message. The message will be presented by her representative, and our good friend Dr Hamdala Zedan. I would like to also pay tribute personally to Dr Zedan for his leadership of the Conference of the Parties in this challenging time, for us all, this challenging time of the Convention as we prepare for COP 15. So I now have the pleasure of inviting Dr Hamdala Zedan to speak on behalf of Dr Her Excellency Dr Yasmin Fuad, Minister for the Environment of Egypt. Hamdala, you have the floor. So I understand that Dr Zedan will be joining us in a moment. Meanwhile, I will proceed with the agenda. This is the second global dialogue co-organised by FAO and the Convention on Mainstreaming Biodiversity in the Agricultural Sectors. And this process of mainstreaming biodiversity in FAO and more broadly was given a sharp reinforcement at COP 13, which was hosted by Mexico in 2016. In Mexico, at the high level segment, we discussed the mainstreaming of biodiversity in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and tourism. And now I have the pleasure to invite the Deputy Secretary of Planning and Environmental Policy of Mexico, Jorge Arturo Agüeta Villamar, to make some remarks. Your Excellency, you have the floor. Thank you very much. David, thank you very much. Good afternoon in Rome. Dear Mr. Director Shu Yu Dongi, Director General of FAO, and dear Elizabeth Maruma, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Respectable panelists and colleagues received a warm welcome from the Master Maria Luis Alvarez González, Secretary of the Environment of the Government of Mexico, who has asked me to share with you the basic ideas of national policy on the relationship between biological diversity, food and agriculture. Mexico is a diverse country, both in biodiversity and in cultural and linguistic diversity. Both diversities promoted the domestication of animal plants as occurred in several points of the planet, but especially in eight centers of origin and domestication, llamados también centros Babilov or centros Babilov Harlan. Desde esos tiempos ancestrales una gran cantidad de las variedades domesticadas, incluso algunos de sus parientes silvestres, se mantienen por el eficaz e inteligente manejo que de ellas hacen los pueblos campesinos y pastores del planeta, generando nuevas variedades mediante la selección paciente y la domesticación, procesos que continúan hasta el día de hoy. Ante este legado biocultural de enorme trascendencia, el Gobierno de México reconoce la importancia de la biodiversidad para la alimentación y la agricultura nacional y global, por lo que dentro de la Plenación Nacional se han diseñado estrategias y acciones vinculadas a su protección, conservación y uso sustentable, así como para transitar hacia la soberanía alimentaria. Un elemento fundamental que se dio a conocer en la COP Cancún 2016 y que todos ustedes deben saber es que el 80 por ciento de los ecosistemas en buen estado de conservación en donde se concentra gran parte de la biodiversidad es propiedad social y colectiva y pertenece a comunidades rurales indígenas. Esto muestra la importancia de estas comunidades y de los territorios que ocupan para la conservación de la biodiversidad y su gran aporte de servicios ambientales a la agricultura y a la alimentación en México. El programa sectorial de medio ambiente y recursos naturales incluye diversas estrategias, como lo señalábamos hace un rato, señaló dos o tres de ellas. Estamos diseñando acciones, instrumentos, programas que apoyen la gestión de sistemas agroecológicos, agroforestales y agrosilvo-pasoriles en el medio rural y periorbano. Y estamos también impulsando una política integral de bioseguridad que salvaguarda la biodiversidad a las personas y a la inocuidad de los alimentos, de los efectos adversos de los organismos genéticamente modificados y de plaguicidas que sean plaguicidas y herbicidas que se han aplicado de manera indiscriminada en nuestro territorio. Con base en ello se trabaja en los territorios para incentivar la transición agroecológica, así como el respeto y la conservación del patrimonio biocultural del país, a fin de proteger la salud y la vida de los mexicanos ante las amenazas ya señaladas. Se impulsa por ello una nueva ética de producción y consumo de alimentos en los territorios para la consolidación de un sistema agroalimentario justo y sostenible. Se trabaja de manera conjunta cinco secretarías del gobierno federal, salud, medio ambiente, agricultura, bienestar, economía y el organismo nacional de ciencia y tecnología en una agrupación denominada gizamac justamente con este propósito estratégico general. Reconocemos la importancia del liderazgo de la FAO en los sistemas importantes del patrimonio agrícola mundial, los CIPAM, para impulsar los numerosos sistemas agroecológicos ancestrales que existen en México y con ello apoyar a las y los cultivadores, pastores, pescadores que han hecho posible la conservación de las especies y el enriquecimiento de la biodiversidad y la agrobiodiversidad en México. México reconoce también el rol estratégico de la FAO y del convenio de la diversidad biológica en la transversalización de la biodiversidad en los sistemas de producción agrícola, ecuario, forestal, pesquera y acuícola para asegurar el bienestar humano y alcanzar las metas de siete de los 16 objetivos del desarrollo sostenible. En días recientes se ha tenido las reuniones del órgano técnico y científico y del órgano subsidiario sobre la aplicación del convenio de la diversidad biológica. Ahí hemos sobrellado una política de respeto a los derechos humanos, especialmente de las comunidades indígenas y locales, y hemos enfatizado la soberanía sobre los recursos naturales de la nación, como lo ha señalado el presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Estamos retomando entonces una política internacional alejada del paradigma neoliberal. La presente celebración abre además la puerta a dos nuevas décadas la de la ciencia de los océanos, la restauración de los equipos temas marinos, y estaremos en octubre adoptando en China el marco global de biodiversidad como otro paso para lograr la visión 2050 de vivir en armonía con la naturaleza o como lo ha señalado el señor Hong de reconstruir una comunidad de vida. Reiteramos el compromiso de trabajar a favor de la biodiversidad y de los pueblos, de la alimentación y de la agricultura que mantienen el bienestar de nuestra sociedad. La naturaleza es nuestra origen, es la sabiduría y es la salud de nuestros pueblos y la vida misma. Muchísimas gracias por la invitación y su atención a estas palabras. Muchas gracias, señor Angüeta Velamar. Muchas gracias para enfasar la importancia de la biodiversidad y los centros de origen. Muchas gracias a México por todos sus esfuerzos de integrar la biodiversidad en los sectores de la agricultura, la pesca, las bosques y por su apoyo importante en estos procesos multilatorales, en la FAO y otras, y también por el liderazgo de México, de Eicio Benitez, de Conabio, por el papel importante en el organo subsidiario, el substan. So, ladies and gentlemen, before we move on to other speakers, I'd like to note that we will have some time for discussion and for some questions and answers. So please use the question and answer box if you have questions that you would like to raise for any of the panel members today. And we'll see if we have any questions and if not, maybe I will pose a question if either of our distinguished speakers are able to address these questions of looking forward, what are the key elements that we need in a global biodiversity framework that could enable integration of biodiversity in the agricultural sectors, the sectors of agriculture, forestry and fisheries. I don't know if either Minister Huang or Deputy Secretary Agüeta Vilamar would like to address this question or give us any other thoughts they may have as we move forward on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. Yes, please. Your Excellency, please go ahead. Thank you. Thank you very much, Minister. And I believe, His Excellency, the Deputy Secretary from Mexico would also like to respond. Dianis La Palapa, please. Thank you very much, David. I was told by Minister Huang, that I would like to point out the enormous importance of the cultural and bio-cultural in biodiversity, food. Food itself is a cultural act. We can't separate it from what has been the food traditions on the planet. So, yes, indeed, Junan, just like in Mexico, a huge biodiversity. The most important in China, in this region, south of China and on the border with Thailand, with Laos, and also a great biological diversity, a great flouristic diversity. It's impressive. They have more than 30% of China's flour is in China. Well, that's important and in Mexico we have a similar situation. In a previous meeting, Dr. Carlos Manuel Rodriguez asked us the question of whether it was better to be Minister of Environment or Minister of Agriculture than to choose. I answered that I had to be Minister of Both, that I had to join agriculture and biodiversity. As it cannot be done in terms of structure, it can be done in terms of planning. And I think that the enormous effort of Kunming should take place in this program of the general framework for biodiversity and food. In global programs, supported interagency, that allow to structure relations between Ministry of Environment, agriculture and culture. Precisely, I think it would be innovative to establish programs, global interagency, that allow those approaches. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Subsecretario. I think in this segment we have time for a couple of more questions. And I will, we have some questions from participants. And I think for Minister Huang, there is a question from Eshmael Karamidekodi. Thank you for the distinguished panel members. I would like to ask what was the role of academic institutions for biodiversity management in China? How can we support the contribution of these institutions for international collaboration? And so I think given the COP is going to take place in China, and China has this immense capacity in its academic institutions. You may wish to address this question. And then I will have a question for Mexican Vice Minister from Angela Cordero. Mexico, as you said, Mexico is an important centre of origin for many crops, such as maize. Could Mr Villamar outline some of the policies that Mexico and others take to protect this agricultural biodiversity? So first I'll turn to Minister Huang to address the question about academic institutions. You have the floor, your excellency. And there are a lot of scientists in the lab. For example, some of you may have some colleagues know that the Welfare Institute of the University of China is a Chinese university. So the University of Dongbei is a professor in our university, which is a professor at the University of Shifan in Beijing. He is a very famous professor. Thirdly, some of our departments, the departments of various central governments in China, also have some specialized research institutions. For example, the Department of Agriculture in the Bureau of Agriculture. The Department of Agriculture will study the river and river biodiversity in the river and our agricultural production process. These are the departments of agriculture. As for the ecological environmental department, our Environmental Science Research Institute will also study biological diversity. It will study different pollution and harm the biological diversity. So the department also has a special research institution to study biological diversity. The fourth one is our place. For example, we are in the Central District. There is a provincial and even a private level in the lower part of the city. It also has a corresponding research institution and biological diversity. I will give you an example. For example, Sichuan is also in the southwestern part of China. It is mainly the hometown of a bear. In Sichuan, there is a well-known institution to study bears in China. Because in Sichuan, it is relatively early to work in this area. In Sichuan, it is also the hometown of a bear in China. So it is close to the water level and it is far away. So its research ability is relatively strong. If you have the opportunity to come to China and go to Sichuan, you can see the hometown of a bear. You can see a lot of research institutions and scientists studying this area. So I want to go back to what I said earlier. To answer this question, it is also simple and complicated. I have already said four things. I will not necessarily finish it. In short, I think research on biological diversity in China is very wide, very wide and very wide area for scientists to work in this area. Welcome everyone to come to China to work with our scientists. Thank you. Thank you very much, Minister Huang. Indeed, you have outlined a wide range of institutions. I think the global community can gain a lot from the work of Chinese institutions and the evidence base that it has developed will be very important as we move forward in implementing and monitoring the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. So now we have a few more minutes. I will turn briefly to again Deputy Secretary Agueta Villamar if he has any remarks on genetic diversity and then we will move to the next block of speakers. Thank you. Thank you very much. In relation to the conservation of the corn that as you well know Mexico is the center of origin and domestication of corn in the world. On December 31 of last year the president of Mexico issued a decree to prohibit the importation of transgenic corn to our country. At the same time, a reduction in the importation of glyphosate that is a nervousness that is destroying a good part of the plants that accompany the corn mill in Mexico. That is also something fundamental in this process and I want to say that it has been very well received by organizations farmers for example the program without corn there is no country and a large number of organizations that are dedicated to cultivating milpa in our country. Milpa linked to the centers of indigenous peasants in the long and wide country. Mexico has 59 corn and more than 300 varieties of corn. That is a fundamental biocultural legacy that we are forced to keep for the new generations. That is to say to make it a sustainable resource of our country. Just like Mr. Wong spoke about the Ongos as fundamental in the regional food the corn is the basis of the food of the people of Mexico and the good part of Central America. So we also have other programs as I said the Hizamac program which is the intersecretary group of food health environment and competitiveness. This program is dedicated to creating an agri-food healthy, sustainable and competitive system. Its motto is healthy food production. And in that we are committed as I said six institutions of the federal government more state governments or sub-nationals and municipalities. We have several programs in that sense one of them, for example which is very important to point out on this occasion is the work that is being done to preserve the culture and to boost the culture of native corn in the protected natural areas. In the buffer areas in the periferic areas where we have a large amount of those varieties of corn that are cultivated by peasants and inhabitants of those areas. These are important reservoirs there is clear the relationship between food production and conservation of biodiversity in our country. There are 182 protected natural areas of federal character and in those at least two large programs are being developed the conservation program for sustainable development and the program of agroecological schools for sustainability where we are developing and developing programs for agroecological systems traditionally highly resilient. There are other programs more of strengthening the culture of the Milba by the agricultural secretariat and there is also a very important program of native biodiversity by the Conavio where Mr. Eciquio Benitez who you pointed out David, a while ago there is a I would like to mention the question they asked Minister Wang many national and state universities also develop programs of study analysis of the diversity in our country. There are also very important institutions such as the INIFAP or the National Institute of Science dedicated to the agriculture and for example the postgraduate school which also dedicates the efforts there is a huge diversity but I would say these are the programs that are being carried out to date. Thank you very much Mr. Agueta Velamar and I would like to thank you and Minister Wang for being with us this morning for spending time not only to make a statement but to engage in discussion it's very much appreciated we've heard a lot about the very strong efforts made in China and in Mexico to protect biodiversity to use biodiversity to integrate it into agriculture and also of course to all the support to the convention from COP 13 through COP 14 and we look forward now to COP 15 we've come to the end of this first segment and unfortunately we're out of time so I'm now going to thank you both very very much again and I'm going to hand over to my co-facilitator Eduardo Mansour director for climate and biodiversity in FAO Thank you very much Eduardo you have the floor your excellencies thank you for opening up the dialogue in a constructive and informative way we are very honored to have representatives here of two commissions we have a representative from the European Commission and a representative from the African Union commission it's my honor to invite his excellence Mr. Yanos Mr. Kovest to intervene in the dialogue and bring his words from the European Commission your excellency the floor is yours please Thank you, thank you very much for invitation ladies and gentlemen this is my pleasure to address all of you at this very important panel biodiversity laws land and sea degradation have accelerated over the last number of decades this has brought worsening impact on our economies societies and daily lives as well as our capacity to address global challenges like climate change last year the European Commission adopted its communication on European Union biodiversity strategy for 2030 bringing nature back into our lives will benefit our people and ecosystems our planet and climate and our economy and society as a whole it will put us in line with the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and with the objectives of the Paris Agreement on climate change the strategy is ambitious yet achievable it proposes a wide ranging set of commitments and actions to ensure that Europe's biodiversity will be on the path to recovery by 2030 the strategy sets out the European Union's key priorities for the ongoing international negotiations with a view to reaching an ambitious global biodiversity framework as 90% global biodiversity laws outside of Europe the strategy supports global action in the context of our bilateral regional and multilateral international relations the loss of biodiversity presents a threat to long-term food production and the agri-food sector which are highly dependent on biodiversity and natural resources it threatens the resilience of both managed ecosystems such as agriculture forests and aquaculture as well as food sourced from natural ecosystems such as fisheries urgent action is needed to address the main drivers of biodiversity loss in the context of food production including the promotion and safeguarding of agro- biodiversity at the same time our food systems also have an impact on climate change and environmental degradation this is why the new European Union Biodiversity Strategy was adopted together with the so-called Farm to Fork Strategy which seeks to secure a fair healthy and environmental friendly food system it aims to ensure the long-term safety sustainability and security of the food system in the European Union by transforming the way we produce, process transport, market and consume food products in this context the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy is and will continue to be the key tool to support farmers in the transition in Tucson and in achieving the Farm to Fork Strategy I'm happy to announce that we have reached agreement on the new Common Agricultural Policy where measures in favour of climate environment and biodiversity will feature more prominently we must transform our production methods in order to reduce the use of more hazardous chemical pesticides agroecology and other biodiversity friendly production systems such as organic farming we must make the best use of nature-based technological and digital solution while ensuring fair economic return for farmers we are convinced that organic farming has a major role to play worldwide in the transition we will seek the support of others such as the FAO and the Convention on Biological Diversity for this transformation including further development of organic farming worldwide as the key guardians of our land farmers play a vital role in preserving the EU's biodiversity this is why it is important to work with farmers to support their transition to fully environmental friendly practices while ensuring that they continue to thrive the biodiversity and the farm to forks strategy will strengthen agroecosystems facilitate biological pest control and climate adaptation which will cut down on production costs and move towards greater sustainability all in all it is possible to combine profitability and sustainability given the international nature of food systems these measures will stimulate a change to food production system not only inside the EU but also at an international level the European Union is committed to increasing its support to partner countries to protect, restore and sustainably use their biodiversity and ecosystems the EU will take an integrated approach in line with the target of 10% of funding for biodiversity by 2026 as stated in the new multi-annual financial framework mainstreaming action across sectors will be also key in particular we will step up our support for research and innovation in connection to agroecology we will also continue to support agro biodiversity for landscape approaches as well as the implementation of the international treaty on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture we look forward to playing an active role with the FAO with other UN agencies and programs on agro biodiversity in the UN food system summit we also look forward to connecting the food system summit with the convention on biological diversity and the United Nations framework convention on climate change thank you for your time and attention thank you very much Mr. Wojciechowski adding fantastically to the information that you gave us regarding the 10% funding for biodiversity by 2026 from the European Union the linking of the biodiversity strategy with the farm to fork strategy of the EU connecting biodiversity with climate change this adds very well with the first part of the dialogue where minister 1 informed us about the COP 15 China and the advances on the ecological civilization and deputy minister Arbeta informed us on the progress in Mexico so I would like to come back to you before moving to Africa Union Commissioner I would advance the questions because why we discuss Africa Union Commissioner I would love you to come back to us with just few points on a bit more detail that I think the European Union can bring to us to the information of dialogue in certain areas that may be weaker in other regions particularly Mr. Wojciechowski I would like to hear from you on partnership public-private partnerships the engagement of private sector and the challenge that we may have on this particular aspect of mainstreaming biodiversity FAO has recently adopted a new strategy on the involvement of private sector and that we would like to have more private sector involvement in biodiversity in all its aspects in genetic resources in the species and also on the ecosystems why another aspect that's very important for us is the financial mechanisms that would help bring mainstreaming biodiversity I think it's more or less connected with the point of partnerships with public and private sector so why you think on this a little bit and I'll come back to you I would like to invite unfortunately the commissioner from the European from the African Union Madame Josefa Sacco informed us that she's not feeling well today we wish Madame Sacco all the best in the prompt recovery she was very kind to designate Messier Simplice Andoala Am I correct with the name Messier Simplice is connected with us he's the director of the division of agricultural and food security of the African Union so we'd like to hear from you sir regarding the advances of the African Union Commission on mainstreaming biodiversity Messier Simplice Thank you very much You have the floor Messier Thank you very much facilitator DGFU DGFU Your Excellency I stand on the existing protocol I wish to convey to you the apologies and the greetings from the Commissioner Sacco Commissioner for Cultural Development Sustainable Environment Economy of the African Union Commission and she has requested me to convey the following message to this dialogue I hope I will be able to do it with the same tone that she would have loved to do so Your Excellency Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen there is a growing recognition that sub-guarding biodiversity and managing natural resources sustainably must be a priority if we are to deliver nutritious food for the present and future generation and achieve both the Agenda 2063 goals and the SDG 2030 goals Today some of 821 million people still suffer from chronic hunger nearly a quarter of children under the age of 5 are standard and malnutrition affects a third of the global population A major response to malnutrition can make change emerging diseases pressures on feed and water supply and shifting market demand is to conserve and sustainably use a wide range of plant and animal diversity Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen why Africa is home to a rich and diverse animal plant and marine biodiversity that provide critical ecosystem services driving the continent economy and serving as buffer to climate change the continent is experiencing a dramatic loss of biodiversity The World Bank and FAO estimated that by 200 climate change alone would cause a loss of half of African birth and mammal species as well as trigger a 20% to 30% decline in lake productivity and a significant loss of plant species Even more immediate are the ongoing threats to African biodiversity from natural habitat loss to degradation especially from agricultural expansion over exploitation of wildlife and fisheries species including from illegal hunting and trade and the spray of invasive species the African Union has remained committed to protecting biodiversity and ecosystem from further destruction and degradation to a number of intervention this includes sustainable land and ocean management food production and sustainable forestry management through domestication and implementation of the rail conversion related to biodiversity as well as other continental and regional policies The Great Green World an ambitious attempt which was launched in 2007 to cultivate an 8,000 km long 15 km wide barrier across the Sahel by planting tree grasslands and other vegetation The African Union has developed an African strategy for combating illegal exploitation and trade in wild species The African Union is also supporting and facilitating the efforts by the member state supporting the African group of negotiators to secure a post 2020 global biodiversity framework that end to heart and start to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 The African Union has developed an African Union green recovery action plan to address biodiversity and nature as one of its five strategic pillar will therefore look forward to work with relevant stakeholders and partners in advancing Africa biodiversity agenda in the lead up to the adoption of the post 2020 global biodiversity framework. I thank you for your attention. Thank you very much Mr. Noella an excellent and brief explanation but I would like also before coming back to the commissioner would like to put a question for you to think because we know how important you highlighted in your presentation how important the partnerships are for implementing the development activities in Africa I would like you to think a little bit more and bring to us our expectations, the challenge and the opportunities that we would have in Africa for more partnerships and especially Mr. Noella regarding inclusion to bring the different groups and at the different level of our FAO is putting a high importance now on the SDG 10 amongst the other SDG for equity and if you could bring to us from the perspective of mainstreaming of integrating biodiversity to the African Union how you think in terms of partnerships and inclusion that could be advanced don't respond yet because I'd like to go back to Commissioner Vojtekowski on my questions regarding private sector and financial mechanism if you could bring us some ideas or insight the floor is yours sir thank you very much for your question maybe it's an interesting question and it's in my area of my direct responsibility agriculture we have mainly private sector and this is the farmers the majority of farms they are private family farms and there is generally the common agriculture policy with all instrument is dedicated to the private sector in agriculture but generally for the biodiversity about the financing and resource mobilization the business and finance sector are essential the European Union is at the forefront of global efforts to gain financial flows notably from the taxonomy of sustainable investment and the upcoming corporate sustainability reporting directive as regards the new financing instruments the European Union has consistently defended the development of innovative financial instruments in order to unlock private funding invest you is our new financial instrument that is to trigger significant investments also in natural capital for food and agriculture European Union is not in favor of developing new international public financing instruments we are aware of the calls for setting up a new biodiversity fund which pre-assembly should also help investing in biodiversity for food and agriculture and mainstreaming biodiversity across sectors however the global environmental fund and other existing funds can already foster such investments and we are reluctant to create new instruments with the corresponding red tape and administrative burden resource mobilization will be a make it or break it top 2020 global biodiversity framework and financing for biodiversity for food and agriculture and mainstreaming biodiversity across sectors must be part of it meeting the huge financing needs for biodiversity by aligning all public and private financial flows with biodiversity objectives for example eliminating harmful investments and subsidies and scaling up green investments including in agriculture, fisheries and food sectors at the same time we know that an increase of international financing to developing countries for biodiversity will be an important element in the package to be agreed at CBD COP 15 countries. We are not starting from scratch the European Union and its member states are already well on track to meet their commitment to double biodiversity funding to developing countries by 2015 and maintain that level until 2020 agreed in Hyderabad COP 11 and in 2012 the European Union is committed to further increase its support to partner countries post 2020 including to support sustainable agriculture organic farming, agroecology fostered biodiversity financing and investment benefitting nature and help build capacity globally. Thank you. I hope your Excellency that the audience enjoyed as much as I did your information regarding the financial mechanisms the innovative way that the European Commission and the European Union is putting together and the consistency of your commitment to Hyderabad and towards COP 11. We thank you very much for that and we congratulate the Commission for its commitment on biodiversity and its link with the farm to fork. Let me go back to Ms. Inuala with the question in terms of partnerships how Africa Union could bring to us its knowledge, its experience or its ambitions in terms of increasing partnership for mainstreaming biodiversity is such an important data that is the food and agriculture sectors the agri-food systems. Ms. Inuala, I hope that I'm not embarrassing you that you averted us that you cannot put your camera. We are absolutely sure about that. There is a glitch there but if you could respond to this quick question for us it would be much appreciated. Thank you very much Facilitator. I choose not to put my camera because if I do it then I will have internet challenges. I will have serious program of connection. Putting me on the spot on what the African Union is doing is advocating in terms of partnership to advance biodiversity consolidation in its agricultural transformation agenda. I think what we are really advocating and I think this was said by a previous speaker I think from Mexico when we thought of structural changes I think we need to build a partnership that brings a new narrative on agricultural transformation on the continent that puts biodiversity at the center. I think when you look at the issues that affect biodiversity loss on the continent agriculture is somehow at the center of gravity and if we start thinking agricultural transformation without thinking biodiversity conservation then there is a problem. We are of the opinion that mainstreaming the understanding of mainstreaming is not the same with other partners. Some when they think of mainstreaming is a second talk, an after talk. We should not think of mainstreaming biodiversity as an after talk in agricultural transformation but we should think of biodiversity when we are planning agricultural transformation on the continent. So the type of partnership that we want to build and that we are advocating is this partnership that advanced biodiversity conservation as part of the thinking of agricultural transformation on the continent. This goes from the national level to the regional and the continental level. At national level we really look at the partnership that brings this structural change. We need to create and dispute the inclusion we need to create a cadre where the ministry of agriculture because that is where agricultural policy has been discussed. When planning agriculture things of the ministry of environment where biodiversity conservation sits and speakers said before me maybe these two need to sit together within the same ministry. Maybe these two need to sit together but if they cannot because of some political or policy issues how can we create a partnership so that there is inclusion in the planning. So this is the type of partnership and inclusion that we are trying within the department to create and to push for as an example of partnership that will certainly put biodiversity at the center of the discussion on agricultural transformation in Africa. Thank you so much Ms. Enoala. I think you made all the point when you said that the understanding of mainstreaming is different. And that's one of the reasons why in particular because English is not my mother don't prefer to use the French and that's integration in the different sectors. It's easier for me to understand but you made the point and we'd like to convene our best wishes for the recovery of Madame Sacco the commissioner of agriculture of the African Union. And with these inputs I am very happy to hand over the facilitation to my colleague David Cooper from the CPD for the next session who deals with the dialogue with the heads of agencies. David you have the floor and the facilitation. Thank you very much Eduardo and certainly it was very inspiring to get those remarks from the from the commissioners in the EU and now we will look at the role of international and regional organizations of course the post 2020 global biodiversity framework is indeed intended to be a framework for all to galvanize action across the whole of society and so we shouldn't see it just as a CPD framework but as a framework for the entire UN system indeed for the entire international system there is already how important FAO the various commissions and committees under FAO the various conventions like the international protection convention the fish stocks agreements and others under FAO how important these will be in promoting and supporting implementation of the post 2020 framework of mainstream in order Eduardo would prefer integrating diversity into the agricultural sectors now we will look at the role of international and regional organizations beyond FAO and we are very fortunate to have a panel now with Joyce the assistant secretary general of the United Nations and deputy executive director of the United Nations environment program Mr Dominguez the world bank where he is global director for agriculture and food Mr Dominguez the director for food agriculture and natural resources from a regional organization the southern African development community and the director of environment climate gender and social inclusion at EFAD I hope there will be time afterwards to have some brief questions and answers as well it's my real pleasure now to invite Joyce Nassouya assistant secretary general of the United Nations and deputy executive director at UNEP to tell us more about the role of UNEP and the wider UN in integrating biodiversity across society and across the economy Joyce you have the floor Thank you very much David Excellencies distinguished ladies and gentlemen let me first start by thanking the organizers for this webinar FAO as well as the CBD it is a real pleasure to join you today in this global dialogue on the role of food and agriculture in the post 2020 global biodiversity framework what I would like to focus on in my initial remarks is actually to look at the UN common approach with regards to this particular topic and entities including us UNEP we recognize that the challenges related to our food system in the context of medium term change is quite clear the science has spoken and it's very clear where the challenges lie but let me highlight a couple of points that I trust most of the participants are quite aware food systems are associated with many of the direct drivers of biodiversity loss through land use change large scale monoculture of a handful of major food crops at the expense of large numbers of under utilized crops over exploitation of fisheries and impacts of excess nutrients use of chemicals food waste and loss as well as the generation of greenhouse gases but we also know the social and economic disruption for example recently caused by the pandemic has affected the food system starting from the supply chain but throughout the system as a whole the pandemic has highlighted for example three billion people directly dependent on agriculture forests and fisheries for food jobs and livelihoods we also know that diversity in production systems is important to resilience for health for nutrition and for the associated by biodiversity providing the ecosystem services that support agriculture production are sustainable and therefore the reason urgent need to mainstream biodiversity across food policies and practices at all levels and to develop long-term strategies addressing the sustainability challenges faced by actors across the systems previous speakers before me touched upon the collective action that is required from different partners from private sector public sector academicians etc sustainable and secure food systems are ensured through urgent action by all actors not just one versus the other so within the UN system we believe that by working together as part of the larger system entities of the UN system to support member states civil society as well as the private sector the UN system can leverage its enormous resources to address the incredibly complex and interconnected dimensions of our food systems and we have committed including at the highest level of the United Nations to join forces along the following areas first on global advocacy and normative frameworks for example through our communication campaigns to mobilize demand for global action for a unified nature second example is through initiatives like the Secretary General's common agenda the UN system convenes dialogues on systemic challenges that can only be addressed through multilateralism second example is around regional collaboration the UN regional mechanisms foster collaboration within and between regions to address biodiversity-related challenges that transcend geographical borders but also regional development banks are engaged to integrate biodiversity conservation and nature-based solutions in economic models and design incentives to inform policies for investments in socio-ecological sustainability third is at the national level the national implementation where thanks to the recent UN reform for example the UN country teams as a system facilitate inclusive multi-stakeholder partnerships and promote networking to resolve development conflicts nexus issues and landscape seascape level challenges the UN resident coordinators and country teams support member states to implement multilateral environmental agreements decisions through the UN sustainable development cooperation frameworks and the COVID-19 socio-economic responses so in conclusion we are now in the moment in history to reflect on cooperation and the choices we need to make to tackle the systemic risks and challenges in our food and agriculture systems and how our societies can be reshaped as part of the sustainable and resilient recovery from the pandemic and equally important is through the common approach to biodiversity the UN system believes that we can spur a whole of system approach with a focus on national level implementation but also articulating the socio-economic transitions that the system will require to contribute to a vision of not just living but thriving in harmony with nature thank you very much David thank you very much Joyce for outlining the UN common approach to biodiversity this common approach will be essential if we are to focus on the goals and targets of the new framework I think we very much appreciate the role of all the agencies involved in developing this common approach and of course in particular the Secretary General in his office and to UNEP for the role in marshalling the development of this new common approach which well as I say be instrumental also for highlighting the importance of a broad approach a whole systems approach to get the transformational changes we need the socio-economic changes we need and that I think leads us nicely into the next speaker from the World Bank Mr Martin van Newkoop who is global director for agriculture and food at the World Bank we are seeing an increasing role of the bank in integrating biodiversity in its work and we look forward now to hearing more from Martin you have the floor sir very good thank you very much David greetings from Washington DC I'm very pleased to be part of this panel today when I was appointed as global director for agriculture I actually changed the name of the global practice of agriculture and food global practice to reflect actually the other food systems approach that we are putting in place as we speak let me start and of course I mean everybody knows agriculture is the biggest driver of biodiversity loss in the world at the same time I think that's important it's one of the many hidden costs of the global food system as we know it 2 billion people are undernourished or malnourished 2 billion people are overweight or obese agriculture and land use change account for 25% more or less of global greenhouse gas emissions of agriculture production is lost or wasted agriculture uses 70% of the world's freshwater resources et cetera et cetera so if an economic price is put in all those hidden costs it in fact surpasses the market value of the food system this is estimated about 10 trillion dollars per year this being to the fourth point that I would like to emphasize the biodiversity problem that we see and be discussing today and it's part of a larger picture of a global food system that is not fit for purpose then looking forward I mean the global food system that's already not fit for purpose I mean needs to feed 2 billion more people by 2050 and projections indicate I mean that with business as usual this will lead to 600 million more hectares of forest to be converted into land for agriculture and of course we know what it means I mean for biodiversity I mean definitely not good news and this leads me to the second point I would like to emphasize that this business as usual moving forward is not acceptable in a way it is shocking to note that public support to a global food system that is not fit for purpose amounts to a whopping 10% of the forest per year in public support most of this public support is provided for market price support I mean about 37% input subsidies about 15% output subsidies about 13% and of course we know that this type of support I mean causes many technical and allocative inefficiencies as well as negative environmental externalities that we see here towards public goods and services reflecting public goods I mean think about agriculture research extension or they are provided as green subsidies in fact out of the $568 billion total envelope of public support to agriculture with only 5% is provided as green subsidies in support of generating positive environmental outcomes and this leads me to the third point that I would like to emphasize that existing public support agriculture and food is contributing to the hidden cost of the global food system including to the biodiversity problem that we are discussing today and accordingly there is a major incentive gap of course agriculture is a private sector activity that is also mentioned by previous speakers in the discussion in this respect it is interesting to know that recently a Wall Street Journal survey evaluated 5500 publicly traded companies or environmental social and governance you know ESG metrics so to say the food industry was very much no show in this ranking with just one food company in the top 100 sustainability ranking despite the fact that agriculture and food including retail is about 12% of global GDP you would expect 12 of those companies in the top 100 rather than one and this brings me to my fourth point the private sector clearly is not leaning in when it comes to improving the sustainability of the global food system so what needs to be done in our view at the bank I mean there is an important role for governments I mean to repurpose existing public support to agriculture and food for better environmental and nutritional outcomes including biodiversity of course if the share of green subsidies would increase from the current 5% to 25% this would mean an increase from the current 28 billion dollars per year probably 242 billion dollars per year which would surpass I mean the 100 billion dollars per year in new climate financing that was agreed as part of the Paris Agreement of course you know this will not be easy as current public support to agriculture and food has lost of vested interest in the economy agenda I mean to be tackled as part of this repurposing agenda and repurposing process at the same time I mean we see movement in the right direction among other we think I mean caused by the fact that COVID-19 is causing significant fiscal stress I mean this is causing ministers of finance I mean to take a hard look at the effectiveness of public sector support programs including for agriculture and food we see references to repurposing public support re-oriented agriculture policies for better sustainable outcomes mentioned in official communiques issued by the G7 recently by the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture organized by the government of Germany in January signed off by 70 plus ministers of agriculture we have communicated by the African Union recognizing I mean the importance of repurposing public support to agriculture the recent Matera declaration I mean this is all good news I mean there's movement in the right direction and when it comes to the private sector there's a lot of discussion in the lead-up to the UN Food Systems Summit of it's the World Bank I mean you're an active member of the world of the preparation process as a co-convener of the finance work stream so there's a very much debate about mandatory ESG reporting and nature related risk disclosure for agriculture and food companies as well as moving forward on the notion of deforestation free pension funds guidance and commitments so this is also good news of course in the end I mean most of the action will need to happen at the country level and in view of this I mean the World Bank is very actively engaging on the repurposing agenda and the mainstream country analytics that we think will provide the necessary data and evidence to policy makers to reform existing public support programs to agriculture and food towards providing better incentives to farmers and equity business for investing in sustainable production practices and green supply chains as part of this work we are also aiming towards a shift in the mindset of what it means to be a farmer in the 21st century to produce sort of food but also a provider of ecosystem services we think that will send an important signal to move this work forward I mean the bank is an active member of the policy action coalition for repurposing agriculture support that was established as part of the just rule transition initiative I mean for UN climate action summit in 2019 and currently as part of the policy action coalition on this agenda in upstream analytical work I mean for repurposing public support for better environmental and nutritional outcomes Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe Uzbekistan, China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Argentina, Morocco and we are about to start work on this in Colombia, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Tunisia and Gola, Mozambique and Mauritius also the bank is managing the food systems land use and restoration and we have a project program or FOLUR I mean with a commitment of over $300 million from the global environmental facility and expected additional co-financing I mean FOLUR promotes sustainable integrated landscapes and efficient food value chains at scale and FOLUR is targeting large production landscapes I mean for eight commodities including beef cocoa, corn, coffee, palm oil rice, soy and wheat and currently the impact program portfolio has about 27 county level projects around the world focusing on the sustainability of these eight commodity value chains so in Brazil for instance FOLUR supports a 220 million one almost 2 million hectare sustainable multiple use landscape project in Burundi FOLUR provides $52 million for a coffee landscape restoration and the resilience project in China FOLUR is supporting a $165 million project focusing on the transformation of China's food production systems and agro-ecological landscapes towards sustainability covering 1.5 million hectares in Ghana I mean supporters provided for landscape restoration and ecosystem management for sustainable food system project to the tune of $150 million covering 190,000 hectares and in Mexico I mean FOLUR finances we are financing $177 million project covering 900,000 hectares that aims to connect watershed health I mean with beef production and these are just a few examples so in conclusion I mean biodiversity management and incentivizing biodiversity management in the national agricultural sector programs and in the overall food systems transformation agenda should be in a very important ingredient I mean in putting in place a global food system that supports healthy people a healthy planet and a healthy economy I mean governments have a critical role to play by repurposing existing policy and public sector support programs towards generated better environmental nutritional outcomes and raising ability standards for the private sector I mean this is a carrot as well as a stick approach the economic impacts of COVID-19 we think provide an opportunity to go beyond business as usual but it comes to putting these policies and public sector programs in place and in our view I mean the upcoming and we are actually working towards that the upcoming UN Food Systems Summit I mean should be powerful catalyst in making this happen thank you and back to you David thanks very much Martinus for that very comprehensive account you painted a rather sober picture of the current state of the food system the huge negative externalities and the problem that we have of subsidies but also indicated a number of efforts underway to move things and to change we will now go to Mr Domingo's Gove from the southern African development community who he is the director for food agriculture and natural resources so please Mr Gove you have the floor thank you very much facilitator your excellencies ladies and gentlemen I wish to express our appreciation for your invitation to attend and also allowing us to give a presentation of these important topic on how can regional integration support mainstreaming of biodiversity into agriculture sector while also ensuring the poverty alleviation SADEC is an intergovernmental organization of 16 countries from southern Africa being one of the building blocks of the African Union that seeks regional economic communities agriculture is the most important social and economic activity in the region considering our level of development the existing levels of food and nutrition security and the good agro-climatic conditions it is in this regard that the region adopted the regional agriculture policy which is our regional comprehensive agriculture development program compact which is a legal binding instrument to stimulate sustainable agriculture development and food security in SADEC region also these instrument has been followed by the regional agriculture investment plan which is an instrument to operationalize the regional agriculture policy including the establishment of the agriculture development fund the regional indicative strategic development plan 2020-2030 approved by the heads of states and government in August 2020 places agriculture under pillar one which is industrial development and market trade and strategic objective to indicates a transformed agriculture sector that practice sustainable management of environment and its natural resources so when we look at agriculture we're also looking to the environment and natural resources and one of the outputs includes the promotion of conservation of regional animal and plant genetic resources and their use for food and nutrition security our SADEC region is home to over 350 million people 61% of whom lives in rural areas and derive their livelihood from agriculture as a result the importance of agriculture to social and economic growth poverty reduction food and nutrition security remain central to the region's overall developmental agenda however as at the end of March 2021 around 51 million people in our region were food insecure due to the impacts of climate change mainly drought and cyclones but equally due to the COVID-19 pandemic impacts and the majority of the SADEC member states 12 out of 16 have stunting rates that above 20% these is rare found to the region that agricultural development should be anchored to the farm foundation of the availability of biodiversity in its entirety spanning from crops and here we include from plants and here we include crops forest and forest products animal including livestock fisheries and aquaculture and wildlife and microbial diversity through regional integration the SADEC region has managed to develop regional strategies including biodiversity conservation which has full support across the region and in some instance are unique in their own right we include the SADEC fisheries program the regional forest strategy the trust frontier conservation program including a trust frontier financing facility which was established in 2020 to fund the establishment operationalization and strengthening of trust frontier conservation we include the law enforcement and anti poaching strategy the regional green growth strategy the regional aquatic animal strategy to also minimize the aquaculture genetic development to the regional biodiversity and we also include the draft regional invasive alien species strategies we have 18 trust frontier conservation areas some of them are the largest trust frontier conservation areas in the world like the Kavangu Zambezi which includes five SADEC member states with an area a bit larger than Spain the second largest Western European country this collaboration is a success because of the collective commitment being made by the member states to a regional integration agenda fostered by our motto in SADEC of moving together towards a common future the SADEC region has also established the SADEC plant genetic resource center in 1989 which includes a gene bank to promote in situ and exit to conservation of co-op genetic material to conserve and improve agriculture and food and nutrition stability in the region we have just approved the regional animal genetic resources to also conserve livestock genetic material including the establishment of a SADEC animal genetic resource gene bank equally we are finalizing the establishment of a SADEC monitoring controlling control and surveillance coordinating center to coordinate the regional fight against illegal unreported and unregulated fishing which not only deplete stocks and other aquatic marine life but equally the aquatic biodiversity all these strategies are aimed at centrally conserving the biodiversity of the region and making them readily available for purpose of agriculture production and food and nutrition security within and outside our region I would like to emphasize to end by the importance of multilateralism nowadays as it was indicated by our panel member from UNE this is a time that member states should work closely together for the development of their communities we have long since realized that there is no country that is self-sufficient for biodiversity even if the most richest one and that there is a need for collaborative efforts to supplement each others to equitably exploit the benefits derived from available biodiversity international including through CBD and regional integration and mainstreaming of conservation sustainable use of our biodiversity offers the best model to address systemic food insecurity alleviation of poverty thank you thank you very much Domingos thank you it's very useful to have this perspective from a regional economic integration organization a region where there's been I think a lot of innovation in biodiversity management sustainable use agriculture and thank you also for highlighting the challenges and of course also for echoing this call for multilateralism which we clearly need to address the challenges that we have on biodiversity, on climate and of course now facing the ongoing pandemic where we clearly need more multilateralism let's move to our final speaker and then we'll have some time for some discussion I hope I'm very pleased to introduce Joe Puri from IFAD the international fund for agricultural development one of the other Rome based institutions Joe Puri is director for environment, climate gender and social inclusion we very much look forward to hearing what she has to say Joe please go ahead you have the floor thank you so much David Excellencies distinguished ladies and gentlemen a huge pleasure for me to be here so as part of my very brief comments I'm going to make two big points one on the salience of examining the intersections between small scale agriculture and biodiversity and second on the needs for integrating this and then and how IFAD is rising up to the challenge so on the first one small scale agriculture as we know is a crucial sector for holistic biodiversity, climate and social action however we find that despite the importance of the sector in global food systems as well as the importance of the sector of respect to ensure reducing vulnerability to humanitarian and environmental prices the sector remains woefully underserved in some work that we done last year we found that 1.7% of overall climate flows actually went to small scale producers in rural areas this is very important because farmers as well as small scale producers remain one of the most important custodians of biodiversity especially as it is located at the intersection of food systems and agricultural systems the beleaguered state of the world's biodiversity is a critical concern to IFAD with 1 million plants and animal species facing extinction currently the ecosystem function and services that biodiversity supports this has come out really strongly by a whole host of reports that came out earlier this year but despite this at the end of 2020 the world had failed to fully meet a single target on the IG Biodiversity targets last month so in June of this year a joint IVPAS IPCC report found that previous policies have largely followed biodiversity loss on one side and climate change really decoupled from each other or independently from each other and so it's really important that we start to address the synergies between mitigating biodiversity loss and climate change at the same time so while considering their social impact because this offers us the opportunity to maximize benefits and meet global development goals together while recognizing the enormous synergies that we have in this space we are also recognizing the global food systems currently rely on a dangerously narrow range of species and genetic diversity 90% of our calories ladies and gentlemen come from 103 species so approximately 100 species 90% of our calories so within that it's rice, potatoes, wheat and maize that account for 60% alone despite the fact that there are 7,000 plant species that have been cultivated for food throughout history this is precisely why targeting small scale producers is really really critical for leveraging the synergies that we see between biodiversity loss on one side food systems on the other and also climate change adaptation and mitigation on the same side because this we feel that this is really critical for ensuring the kind of transformation that we want to see in alleviating poverty and food insecurity rural smallholder farmers are at the interface of multiple crises and these include environmental and social crises but also economic crisis and so integrating all of these sectors can really help us leverage a key opportunity to address these issues holistically as Martin has also commented we recognize as well that agriculture perversely is very prominent as one of the key drivers of biodiversity loss primarily through expansion and identification and that's where policy becomes really important because in almost all of our investments we also recognize that both the substitution and the income effects so these things become really important we try and address some of these consequences and these tradeoffs through addressing the question of what are the substitution effects and what are the income effects of the scale effects of our investments and really then targeting areas that we can mitigate some of the losses that are bound to be there degradation of services that we derive from biodiversity catastrophic repercussions in 2008 the European Commission estimated that by 2050 the cost of inaction and biodiversity loss could result in losses of vital ecosystem services to the tune of 14 trillion euros per year most of this caused because of lack of pollination related services soil nutrient cycling services, climate disease and pest resilience of climate and water regulation so given all of this what is EFAD doing I'm really excited that going forward and in December this year EFAD will take its first biodiversity strategy to its executive board in doing so we're recognizing that biodiversity is a really important tool for us to target within our own operations in coming years we're implementing the strategy we will be equipping our entire program of loan and grants as well as a larger program of work which includes as well co-financing as well as supplementary funds from our partners to inform progress that is made as well as to contribute to building the evidence and sharing knowledge and solutions that conserve biodiversity while at the same time contributing to development goals with our biodiversity sensitive agriculture and nature-based solutions that are already being integrated and thank you for that word I hate using the word mainstreaming I really like integration the biodiversity strategy will provide a far greater and systematic guidance to the inclusion of biodiversity activities in all of our investments going forward we recognize of course that our systems need to be nourished and reformed but there are key things that we can do just in terms of other than of course what we are targeting through the biodiversity strategy I come from the measurement side and a key thing that also concerns me is that we know that we measure what we treasure current agricultural metrics such as yields per hectare or calories produced exclude important considerations such as biodiversity and nutrition so what we are looking to do is also to think internally but I'm going to exhort all of us to think of a more tangible metric that can incorporate dynamic linkages between those systems and other sustainability outcomes while also helping us improve the state of evidence-based policymaking a few years ago a agro biodiversity index was proposed and I suggest that this is something that we together will start to examine while including considerations of externalities within those I'm also going to suggest that instead of just looking at supplementation strategies food-based strategies using locally available agro biodiversity as well as wild or collective food diversity and strategies that promote consumption of a wide range of local foods that are distinct will be far more cost-effective but also sustainable on a long-term basis in this case EFAS has produced a series of how to do notes on neglected and underutilized species that I'm also going to encourage all of you to take a look at We'll need to wrap up fairly soon sorry to interrupt. Last comment yes thanks David just to wrap that up we're working on adaptation on landscape approaches with a whole range of agencies including the GCF with Jeff as well as agro-ecology initiatives and then through a biodiversity work we're recognizing that all of these will contribute to increasing resilience so my four key takeaways combine climate and biodiversity focus on evidence-based work on agro-ecology and agro-biodiversity recognize biodiversity and rural producers is a key part of the overall objective and recognize that there's an access between biodiversity and food systems because they are the key custodians in this space thank you and back to you. Thank you very much indeed and thank you in particular for highlighting the key role of small-scale producers as you say they produce most of our food in fact and in particular most of the nutrients beyond calories and thanks for the good news also that ifad is developing its first biodiversity strategy and I think a lot of the tools and metrics and ideas you've proposed will be really useful as we as we move forward we are a little bit short of time I'm going to just and we have a lot of questions that have come up but I'm going to put these together there's a lot of questions about aligning finance and how we can support production and small-scale producers so I have one question and any of the panelists will be free to to respond to this to this question you've all highlighted the need for for transformation you've all highlighted that currently finance our public finance is working against biodiversity in most cases so and we're under invested in small-scale producers so my question is how when we are moving towards the transformation the transitions that we need can we ensure that it's a just transition in other words what measures can we take to make sure that finance is realigned public and private finance is realigned in support of biodiversity and in particular for small-scale producers and how can we maximize jobs in this sector in a way that is still supportive of sustainability in the long term these are big questions you'll only be able to give maybe some very brief insights in the 5 or 10 minutes that we have left before we have to move to the next section of this panel I don't know if you want to go first on this and then we'll see if any others would like to come in Thanks Sam and David I think the question is a really important one in terms of just transitions as well as equitable transitions it becomes really important to recognize that most policies and investments that we have trade-offs and these are the things that we are absorbing our own stakeholders as well as our country counterparts to examine and to also incorporate into their own strategies because finally EFAT is essentially positioned to provide the kind of resources and the kind of investments that our country counterparts are really keen to bring in and EFAT is also committed to ensuring that a lot of these strategies are country-led so the key way in which we try and work on these pretty important and ever-present trade-offs is to really alert our counterparts and stakeholders on the ground of potential trade-offs and of strategies that we can undertake to essentially mitigate these one of the other things is to also think about financing finance flows as they're coming in right so those for example our rural protection strategic framework is really support that we provided to countries by way of for the pandemic and really then restructuring and repurposing a lot of the grant investment and the grant-related investments that we've made to then recognize as to how this can be made far more equitable becomes a really key objective for us and that's been our advice to countries too. Thanks. Thanks very much and just a very brief response also I think from Martin. Yes thanks David, an excellent question you know but it comes to just rural transition you know I mean there are 500 million small-holder farms in the world so how can we actually make sure that its transformation of the food system that we're looking for works for them and that goes back to what I said in my intervention you know we need to redefine what it means to be a farmer in 21st century not just provider of food but also provider of ecosystem services farmers have a central role to play I mean when we promote nature-based solutions generating all kind of services that society appreciates and values so we need to avoid the society as a free rider and actually redesign our work support programs so that farmers actually are going to be rewarded and compensated for providing those services that society values and that's the direction that we're taking in our investments that we're supporting in our countries to the World Bank this is also David I mean very much in line with the kind of conversations that we have with producer organizations in the World Farmers Organization etc I mean farmers are very much on board on this agenda to deliver this as part of their new business model I mean so to say back to you thank you very much and we will have some remarks also some brief remarks from Domingos please go ahead yes thank you thank you Facilitator from our context it's very simple when we speak about agriculture it's a discussion and processes that are being led by governments in our context and we're really missing the adequate engagement of those that make the difference namely the small holder farmers I think it's really critical that they are brought into the table so that we are able to engage them in promoting the agriculture for including maximizing the jobs and so on and that's why within Sadek we are mainstreaming for example the gender because when we speak about small holder farmers we are mainstreaming gender in the agriculture work we have also established the private sector established Sadek business forum and now we are promoting the mechanisms to engage them because all the Sadek process were government-led processes and now we are realizing that we have to engage the private sector in all the spectrum so I think it's really critical to bring the relevant partners on board thank you thank you very much indeed and I think it's a pity we don't have more time this would be a very rich discussion but we've had I think some excellent points made in the presentations and in the question now certainly looking from the top down the need to redirect public and private finance and look at what the role, the enabling role of government is to do that and of course then just as important investing in the bottom up making sure that farmers, fish of oak, indigenous people local communities are involved making sure that women and girls are fully empowered and involved if we're going to move just transformation towards a food system that is sustainable and productive and will help us on our road to the 2050 vision that has been established under the convention on biological diversity of living in harmony with nature so I'd like to thank very much for speakers and now I will hand over again back to my friend and co-facilitator Eduardo Thank you very much David, thank you it has been very inspiring and I will take advantage of the interpretation and I'll do the next facilitation in Spanish because it's a great pleasure to arrive at this stage we were working for two days in this dialogue in this high level about the role of food and agriculture in the global general of biodiversity and the post 2020 and we had the pleasure of having with us the co-facilitator the co-presidency of this dialogue divided between ambassadors of different countries of different regions that prepared their information their information of the session that helps us in every way helps us in the CBD the implementation to build 2020 2021 this super year for nature this part I don't know if you can say it in Spanish but understand what you want to say we have a great challenge of nature and we have a unique moment to turn around including in a green answer to the challenges of the pandemic that this new reality has brought us then to summarize and bring the impression of all this dialogue of these two days of work the co-presidents of the dialogue have chosen their excellence Mr. Ambassador and permanent representative of Mexico Mr. Miguel Jorge García Binder who presents the results how they were compiled by the co-chairs then Mr. Miguel is a great honor to pass the word before the closing session so that you present the reflections of the global dialogue and the high level on the role of agri-food systems and the general global mark of biodiversity Miguel you have the word, thank you very much thank you Mr. Ambassador I feel weird when they talk so much about you but thank you very much I just hope my microphone is better than yesterday especially for the sake of our interpreters I apologize because I was using a Wi-Fi microphone and that seems to cause a problem so I'm learning little by little on the tricks of this soon first of all it's an honor for me to try to summarize the day two of work that we just finalizing today as you know they want what's already presented this morning I don't want to repeat I don't want to take your time and repeat all the things that were said but one of the interesting parts is that many of the things that were highlighted by my co-chairs which I am very grateful for their work and their inclusiveness were supported by the discussion on today there are some common threats that we hope we can highlight in our final report a meeting that is a virtual meeting it has been quite difficult for all co-chairs to get together to finalize a document and obviously a document of this nature with such a rich discussion takes a lot of time to prepare we will work on this with FAO help and other institutions help hopefully this report will be shared to the CBD and also to some of the internal within FAO and other organizations so they can help in the design of actions or the guidance of actions and policies I think this morning we I will try to make the best of my efforts this morning we continue to focus on how to implement this agenda for the next decade and beyond we have two distinguished keynote speakers the 2021 World Ford Prize winner Ms. Shakuntala Haraskeven and I apologize being a Spanish speaker and about English speaker normally I have problems with pronunciation of my names so I offered you an apology we also have a participation of the former president of Mauritius both spoke about biodiversity in food systems and especially during the food system transition and the critical role that ecosystems restoration and maintenance play many of the key messages echo and reinforce some of the discussions that we have from the first day and we will remain that our food systems only utilize a narrow set of species and varieties both on land and aquatic food systems even though yesterday somebody indicated that we need to consider what is happening in the aquatic food system because it looks like we have a larger variety of animals being utilized there are opportunities through increasing our food diversity to achieve nutritional and environmental benefits one of the most important discussions is the rescuing of forgotten crops on the economics of biodiversity it was highlighted the biodiversity is essential for the economic prosperity and well-being the collapse of ecosystem services will impact significantly all the economies and the laws of GDPs in every country we need to scale up and expand and sustain investments in the conservation and restoration of biodiversity including in productive landscapes and sea landscapes this could contribute one third of climate change mitigation required while also curbing the risk of future pandemics some of the solutions that were shared was mainstreaming natural capital accounting to ensure that investment decisions considered the risk of biodiversity laws and ecosystem degradation eliminating the perverse subsidies and redirecting those to support by the diversity friendly production this has been consistent message throughout the entire global dialogue some guiding principles coming out this first part of the morning to help in the transformation of food systems include identified synergies that can be achieved by integrating production systems including between crops trees, livestock and aquatic system lean traditional knowledge with science and technology move towards circular production systems that reduce the loss of nutrients and obviously the loss of food increase the efficiency of natural resources and input use engaging and empowering a range of stakeholders including youth and women and working across research disciplines and applying holistic approaches the conversation also focus in a more detailed on the process to develop the post 2020 global biodiversity framework with a briefing delivered by the co-chairs of the open-end working group to the develop of the post 2020 biodiversity framework the AICI targets were not met and the lessons learned would need to be applied in the post 2020 agenda for example the last framework seen as exclusively in the purview of environmental ministries and the new post 2020 framework needs to be more inclusive therefore the new framework aims to engage all sectors including productive sectors and a wide range of actors in the development and implementation of these practices the other CBD working group will consider refining the monitoring accountability and reporting elements to the framework where FAO will have a strong role in the words of the co-chairs of the open-ended working group we will be successfully individually if we were successfully collectively we have to work together in the round table of the bureau members of several FAO technical committees and statutory bodies highlighted the importance that their bodies have given to biodiversity supporting on the one side the FAO strategy and its action plan and also requesting FAO support to the implementation of the post 2020 GFB and collaborating with the CBD we also heard today that the outcome of the global dialogue will be brought to the attention of the FAO technical committees including the committee of agriculture which is another activity for seeing the FAO action plan we are therefore positive that biodiversity is even more strongly embedded in FAO and we hope that this role will be reflected in the 2020 GFB we also have an opportunity to hear the high panel the high panel participation of ministers and vice-ministers and high level experts and from this dialogue I have highlighted some important comments first the dependence of agriculture on the healthy permanence of biodiversity the second point that was highlighted in this conversation is that all the actors in agriculture are important this in this involvement the producers had a vital role and we also recently heard that it probably going to be needed that we redefine whether farmer or producer is for the 2020 before the game Eduardo if I get too long if you can wrap up the importance of biocultural traditions the importance of collaboration partnerships and especially we need to work intensively to bring the private sector on board these are some of the comments of this year and sorry for taking this long thank you so much Dr. Mansoor hopefully we'll have this in the hands of the commission as soon as possible. Thank you, thank you Ambassador sorry the noise we heard was one of the participants had the mic open but our host just managed to mute and I think you did an outstanding summary so our words are of thank you very much for yourself for the ambassadors of South Africa of UK and Thailand who work together I think in perfect harmony as we heard this morning in the cultural moment that the harmony in nature is similar to the harmony in music or in the performance art just one piece that's not there that small triangle in the orchestra is not there that things don't go right in nature is similar and I think this reflects very nicely when you said the dependence of agriculture on healthy biodiversity on healthy ecosystems on healthy genetic resources that are the essence for the increased productivity that is for the supply of the food in the diversity on the nutritious aspects that are necessary we captured very well the report of course this is going to be compiled and available at the website and from my side in terms of facilitation my duty ends here I am happy to return the baton to my colleague from CBD the Deputy Executive Secretary to conduct the closing session David you have the floor and the baton Thank you very much Eduardo and let me express my appreciation to the co-chairs of this dialogue to Ambassador Garcia Winder for the summary just presented and to the other co-chairs Ambassador and Ambassador for their really hard work over these days guiding discussions helping to bring the discussions together and presenting such a good summary yesterday this morning and just now I would also like to express my thanks to colleagues in FAO and CBD it's a real pleasure for me to have the honour to co-facilitate today's session and especially as a former staff member of CBD and the present staff member a former staff member of FAO and a current staff member of CBD I'd like to thank everyone behind the scenes also the interpreters and all those involved in moderating the IT teams and so on and of course all speakers panellists, participants for the very, very rich discussions as we move forward to develop and eventually adopting the post-2020 global biodiversity framework the continued engagement of the food and agricultural sectors will be crucial and of course when we come to implement the framework even more so we're very grateful that FAO has taken on this challenge to help us do that and now have the pleasure of inviting the director general of FAO and the executive secretary of the CBD to provide some closing remarks I'd like to really express our appreciation to the leadership of Dr. Chu Dongyu, the director general of FAO and Dr. Chu director general you now have the floor, thank you Thank you my colleague and my coach facilitated friends from different countries and of course FAO colleagues Semedo and Eduardo and Elizabeth it's my dear sister you know the biodiversity you can see even the meeting is so diversity and you have to get all the corner atoms, issues to be here, to be addressed that's the first one I want to share with you every sector they have a voice on the biodiversity because even we are human beings genetically we are equal we are same but look at the face are different also and the way of thinking the biodiversity and all the science best also different so that is the global natural so I thank all of you for your valuable contribution and to this global dialogue over the past two days I think it's a little bit challenging not only COVID-19 so challenge of instruction, challenge of the time challenge of the time zone challenge of the way of thinking priority but I really appreciate all of you one sentence one paragraph one book it's a contribution and step by step Spanish say boco y boco and much of the boco and then we end the big mission I commend you all for staying connected and committed you can see I'm a first now the DG started with opening and closing and three times and Samedo he only pay me one salary but he used me three times you can see how much I engage personally with the biodiversity because I said the biodiversity is the best for the food diversity also this global dialogue highlighted the spirit of a close collaboration between FAO and CBD and members more important on the ground that's my opinion and it echoed the agent call to mainstream biodiversity cause and partial sector on the road to the COP 15 in Kwameen China and also COP 26 and others so we really wanted to have a global coherent collective action what I said I don't want to spend so much time on you to say too much a bureaucratic slogan sentence but I wanted to best my own observation thinking first biodiversity we need to address science best first second legal governance I think the biodiversity is still we are missing or lack of the legal governance or effective governance globally because so many extinction animals, crops, plants no punishment so but if something small says you are one hundred euro stolen someone should be punished but why you distinguish one value invaluable species no any accountable person organizations or regions to look at even so I think we need a more effective governance at least legally of course based on science and third I think also biodiversity we have to need investment investment on the research investment on the education investment on the public science and get the public awareness because people they saw that mushroom is a mushroom microorganism but once one species are disappearing you kind of get forever that's we don't know what is the treasure for the future for the new medicine for the new food for the new special function elements we don't know so that's why we need more investment on that public awareness research and education and another aspect I think about diversity we should also be at the more closely linkage with the food diversity because when you talk about biodiversity is the more theoretically scientific topic but the food diversity is more relevant to the daily life people they benefit from their enjoyment from their development from their value and they will start to protect the mushroom for instance they wanted to protect the 1000 species of mushroom because simply they test the mushroom so delicious but you tell them they are 1000 so delicious only read your book or from Vichro or whatever print a beautiful picture it's something but it's not so astonished to your heart so I think we need also the that aspect you know be at the linkage and not the contradiction and also we have to learn from indigenous people because there are so many indigenous people they have a knowledge but they didn't have a study the scientific and also the we have to learn from different regions Asia, Latin America small islands, South Africa Europe different region, different country they have their own best practice so we can share that's why we can do FAO make the more country-leading examples how to establish and protect and more reliable last aspect I want to say government should play the leading role because this is global public goods if the any member government didn't take the leading role in their own country or in their own territory that's not allowed to them it's not acceptable and then we need to get a more inclusive collaboration with the civil society academy and the private sector who willing to support this issues and of course international organization like FAO and other organizations we have to work together more closely more one-to-one plus more than two that's kind of a value-added cooperation not too much fighting I don't like fighting I like the cooperation so with that it's just start it's a new start new platform and the new start point and there we go with the Kwamee COP 15 and beyond COP 15 COP 15 is only summit but it's a social movement so let's work together learning together and contributing together and make this planet with sustainable biodiversity and for our generations to come thank you thank you very much over to you Mr. Cooper thank you very much director general yes you're right food embodies biodiversity thank you for your inspiring summary and for your enthusiasm and for staying with us through this this global dialogue and for your ongoing and sustained support to this agenda of integrating biodiversity and food and agriculture for the benefit of all as you say we need more cooperation so really thank you very much indeed and now I have the pleasure to invite my friend and colleague the executive secretary of the convention on biological biodiversity Elizabeth for her closing remarks Elizabeth you have the floor thank you very much David and through you also to the FAO co-facilitator Dr. Chu Dong Ju director of FAO sincere thanks to you and through you our colleagues at FAO who have collaborated with us at the CBD secretariat to get all this discussion in the last two days until now on the connection in nature of food agriculture and biodiversity the three cannot be separated and I think these two days have clearly demonstrated that connection not surprising and delighted for your leadership that we are meeting these two days to deep dive into those issues which cut across these three matters it has been a pleasure indeed to hear all the insightful views and recommendations including your own institute on how to mainstream biodiversity in our food systems over the course of the last two days together all the actors of our food system we have created an important space to enable future collaborative approaches I am truly impressed to hear about the biodiversity initiatives that are happening in many countries at country level we need to scale up and transform these initiatives into structural changes to ensure the transformation that we are striving to achieve it is also important to highlight the work of our colleagues at the United Nations Environment Program the IFED the World Bank and many other organizations that are undertaking to tackle the key biodiversity issues in production systems we need an enabling environment so that all countries can ensure that biodiversity is not only conserved and sustainably used but used as a leverage to improve our productive systems I would like to highlight the important role that FAO plays and sincerely thank them for hosting our second meeting of the open ended working group of the global biodiversity framework that took place last year from at FAO headquarters in February that support looking forward also in the implementation of post 2020 global biodiversity framework including through the strategy of mainstreaming biodiversity across agricultural sectors as well as the 2021 2020 and 2023 action plan to implement it will all be critical in guiding our parties in transforming their food system ladies and gentlemen dear colleagues as we move towards negotiating and adopting an ambitious post 2020 global biodiversity framework it is imperative that we catalyze the role of biodiversity in supporting productive and sustainable food systems as we move forward and we will be able to make a review report made it very clear that our economies livelihood and well being all depend on our most precious asset and that is nature we could not ask for a better institutional alignment with our conference of the parties 15 the UN food system for the next decade of action the responsibility is ours I invite you to be bold ambitious and transformative as we strive to meet the 2030 agenda for sustainable development if we all work together living in harmony with nature will no longer be simply a vision but a reality for us and for the generations to come thank you very much back to you David thank you very much indeed Elizabeth for those encouraging and inspiring closing remarks and now it's my honor together with Eduardo and all our colleagues in FAO and all the participants around the world to close this global dialogue thank you all thank you thank you ambassador and also and also Aguda still there and of course Elizabeth and all the colleagues and the friends thank you