San Jose [US], June 14 (ANI/WAM): The Minister of Climate Change and Environment Amna bint Abdullah Al Dahak has visited the headquarters of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in Costa Rica and met with Director-General Manuel Otero, who invited the UAE to join the organisation as an observer country.
Otero also reaffirmed his support for the creation of the so-called multinational Technical Group to advance the transformation of food systems, promoted by the UAE.
The Group's mission is to analyse how best to tackle the transformation of agriculture and agrifood systems in order to address the challenges posed by climate change and achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.
It also advises countries on the updating of their climate commitments - the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) - to ensure they include climate action measures in agriculture.
In the coming months, the Technical Group will begin to respond to questions from the countries, with a view to identifying gaps and opportunities for cooperation.
As president and host of the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28, held in December in Dubai), the UAE promoted the Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action, which 159 countries have signed so far. The document represents a strong commitment to the need to address the interaction between food systems, agriculture and climate as the only possible way to achieve the global objectives of climate change mitigation and adaptation.
"It is really fantastic that IICA has shown its support for the declaration and the formation of the Technical Group, and also to know that it's planning to take part in future COPs. Moreover, I wish to acknowledge the work that the Institute is doing to encourage its member countries to transform their agrifood systems so they are more resilient, with the adoption of new technologies," Al Dahak said.
"We lent our support to the Technical Group and the Declaration because we firmly believe in the transformation of agricultural systems around the world, and especially in the Americas. We're an institution committed to the wellbeing of farmers and rural territories in the Americas, building bridges with the rest of the world," Otero emphasised.
In addition to praising the work of IICA, Al Dahak thanked the Director-General for his invitation to the UAE to join the IICA as an observer country. (ANI/WAM)
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