UN-wide Collaboration, Agrifood Systems Discussed At COP29 Events

• The Rio Trio Initiative is a partnership between the host countries of this year’s Rio Convention COPs (Colombia, Azerbaijan, and Saudi Arabia).
• Projects in Somalia, Iraq, and Burundi are addressing climate-resilient agriculture and water management systems, ecosystem restoration, and climate information services.
• Current financing and investment for agrifood systems transformation account for only 4.3% of total mitigation and adaptation finance.

20 November 2024

On 12 November, during the 2024 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 29), side events addressed, among others, financing climate-resilient projects in countries impacted by fragility and conflict, how the UN system can address institutional fragmentation across the climate, biodiversity, and desertification conventions, and the importance of climate finance for agrifood systems.

The UN Environmental Management Group (EMG) and the UNFCCC Secretariat convened a high-level roundtable on strengthening action, promoting coherence, and scaling up support to address climate change. It built on the outcomes of a high-level roundtable that took place during the 2024 UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP 16) in Cali, and the recently launched Rio Trio Initiative – a partnership between the host countries of this year’s Rio Convention COPs (Colombia, Azerbaijan, and Saudi Arabia).

The first panel explored pathways for greater UN-wide collaboration on the triple planetary crisis and for greater UN support for countries in implementing the climate agenda in an integrated manner. Possible contributions by the EMG in both areas were mentioned.

A second panel built on insights from the first and addressed the question: Why is cooperation not happening on the ground?

Key points raised during the roundtable included the need to, among others:

• Improve cooperation, including through integrated approaches to multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs);
• Identify cross-cutting threads that connect the climate agenda with other areas, such as human rights, finance, and gender;
• Bring a unified UN voice to the national and local levels;
• Focus on fragile states and conflict areas;
• Work with high-impact sectors; and
• Identify priorities to better deliver environmental goals.

An event on investment projects to scale up delivery of climate-resilient agriculture and water management systems, ecosystem restoration, and climate information services focused on projects in Somalia, Iraq, and Burundi. Panelists discussed the importance of Green Climate Fund (GCF) investments to support adaptation in vulnerable and fragile contexts. The recently approved GCF projects in Iraq and Somalia were led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), and the project in Burundi was led by the One Acre Fund. The investments totaled USD 169 million, responding to calls issued in COP 28 declarations, including the COP 28 UAE Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action and the Climate Relief, Recovery, and Peace Declaration, aimed at bolstering funding in countries facing fragility and conflict.

FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said the projects in Somalia, Iraq, and Burundi will build climate resilience in agrifood systems in rural communities and improve access to water. During the panel discussion, leaders from these three countries underscored how the projects will enhance climate resilience. The event was organized by FAO.

Another event underscored that climate finance for agrifood systems is critical to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change, resilient food systems, and emissions reductions from agriculture and food. However, it also pointed to the insufficiency of current financing and investment for agrifood systems transformation, which accounts for only 4.3% of total mitigation and adaptation finance.

Speakers stated that FAO and the GCF have partnered on 23 high-impact projects valued at a total of USD 1.4 billion and new efforts to leverage co-financing and share skills and expertise.

In a first round of interventions, panelists discussed key finance gaps, especially for agrifood systems. A second round of interventions focused on examples of successes on the ground in enhancing agrifood systems.

The event was organized by FAO, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, and the Better than Cash Alliance.

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