European Union

Highlights for Friday, 22 February 2019 FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva proudly presents the new State of the World's Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture report On Friday morning, CGRFA 17 delegates attended the launch of the report on the State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture (SOW-BFA). FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva highlighted the wealth of information the report brings together, noting it covers a gap in knowledge and sets a baseline for the future.Bernard Lehmann, Swiss Secretary of State for Agriculture, stressed the need to motivate farmers to strengthen co-existence of biodiversity and agriculture. Ram Kumari Chaudhary, State Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development, Nepal, stressed that no country is self-sufficient in food species.Naoko Ishii, GEF Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson, outlined the GEF's program on food and land use restoration focusing on comprehensive land use planning, a landscape approach, and value chain management. Normita Ignacio, Executive Director, SEARICE, Philippines, asked delegates to use the report to inspire real action, noting that “smallholders feed the world, so we must put their interests before all others.” Via video message, CBD Executive Secretary Cristiana Paşca Palmer encouraged FAO and the Commission to continue their active involvement in the development of the post-2020 biodiversity framework using the SOW-BFA report. Phil Hogan, EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, said the report will help policy makers, stakeholders and citizens better understand the linkages between biodiversity and agriculture.In the afternoon, delegates adopted the CGRFA 17 report.René Castro-Salazar, Assistant Director General, Climate, Biodiversity, Land and Water Management, lauded the launch of the SOW-BFA report expressing his confidence that decisions taken during the session would allow “turning words into deeds.” CGRFA Secretary Irene Hoffmann urged delegates to “distribute, reiterate and retweet” the messages of the SOW-BFA to give it real impact.CGRFA 17 Chair Wigmore underlined the importance of collaboration between the Commission and other biodiversity-related agreements in building the post 2020 biodiversity framework and closed the session at 7:05 pm. IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage, daily reports, and a summary and analysis report from the 17th Session of the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. The summary and analysis report is now available in HTML and PDF. Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page Launch of the State of the World's Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture Report Delegates gather for the official launch of the report FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva Irene Hoffmann, CGRFA Secretary, FAO Bernard Lehmann, Secretary of State for Agriculture, Switzerland Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson Julie Bélanger, CGRFA Secretariat William Wigmore, CGRFA 17 Chair Ram Kumari Chaudhary, State Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development, Nepal Normita Ignacio, Executive Director, SEARICE Philippines Phil Hogan, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, and CBD Executive Secretary Cristiana Paşca Palmer, deliver video messages Delegates applaud the excellent quality of the report David Cooper, CBD Deputy Executive Secretary (L), congratulates Julie Bélanger, CGRFA Secretariat, for her work on the report The new report is made available to participants Closing Plenary The draft report of CGRFA-17 Delegates read the draft report View of the dais during the closing plenary William Wigmore, CGRFA 17 Chair Christine Dawson, CGRFA-17 Rapporteur Aulikki Hulmi, Finland Mohammad Hossein Emadi, Iran Jean Lanotte, France Renata Negrelly Nogueira, Brazil Charles Nying, Cameroon Alwin Kopŝe, Switzerland Catherine Karr-Colque, US Noluthando Netnou-Nkoana, South Africa Around the Venue Dan Leskien, CGRFA Secretariat FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General, Climate and Natural Resources, FAO Shawn McGuire, and Chikelu Mba, FAO Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson Delegates from Syria and Tunisia Delegates from Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama Delegates from Europe The CGRFA Secretariat Delegates from Sweden Delegates from the Republic of Korea The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) team covering the negotiations: Stefan Jungcurt, Germany/Canada; Claudia Friedrich, Germany; Wanja Nyingi, Kenya; Elsa Tsioumani, Greece; Rishikesh Ram Bhandary, Nepal; and Kiara Worth, South Africa