UAE minister calls upon GCC ministers to sign declaration for strengthening food systems

Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and the Environment, called on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) ministers of agriculture to sign the Emirates Declaration on Resilient Food Systems, Sustainable Agriculture, and Climate Action.

This comes in order to support UAE's efforts in strengthening food systems to mitigate climate change, reduce global emissions, and contribute to global hunger eradication during COP28 hosted by the nation this year.

Almheiri was addressing the 34th meeting of the GCC Agricultural Cooperation Committee, which was held at the Advisory Board of the GCC Supreme Council headquarters in Muscat, Oman, and chaired by Dr. Saoud Hamoud Ahmed Al-Habsi, Oman's Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources.

Mariam Almheiri said: "The UAE aspires to make COP28 the most inclusive and influential COP to date and drive actionable solutions to creating a sustainable future for all of humanity by focusing on practical implementation. COP28 is an excellent opportunity to promote the GCC's collective efforts in mitigating climate change and preserving the environment."

Almheiri provided further details of the COP28 Food Systems and Agriculture Agenda and UAE's efforts to mobilising international governments to sign the Emirates Declaration on Resilient Food Systems, Sustainable Agriculture, and Climate Action. "Through this, we are urging national governments to invest in sustainable food systems with several key objectives — reducing the carbon footprint of traditional food systems, responsible for a third of global emissions, and minimising water consumption."

"Additionally, we seek to strengthen food production to combat world hunger, which impacted 783 million people last year," she added.

She said that the UAE had shared the initial draft of the Declaration to all Agricultural Ministers globally through diplomatic channels for developing the final draft and sending it to various world leaders for signature in early October.

Almheiri concluded: "The Declaration underpins UAE's commitment to rally global action to solving the shared challenges of water scarcity, desertification, and the unavailability of farming land. We call upon GCC Member States to contribute actively to the success of our endeavours by signing this Declaration."

Almheiri highlighted the UAE's efforts to enhance its food security through the National Strategy for Food Security, as well as efforts to reduce food loss and waste through the Ne'ma initiative, through which the UAE aims to reduce food loss and waste by 50 percent by 2030.

She also highlighted UAE's pioneering projects in the field of modern agriculture and innovation-based food security across the country. Almheiri thanked the Sultanate of Oman for chairing this year's meetings of the Secretariat General of the Gulf Cooperation Council and for hosting the Advisory Board of the GCC Supreme Council for this holding meeting.

She also commended the GCC Secretariat General's role in driving joint coordination and action to achieve common objectives.

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