31 July 2009: Jacques Diouf, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General, has sent a document to Ministers for Foreign Affairs, Development Cooperation and Agriculture of members of FAO and the UN to initiate the negotiation of a declaration for adoption by the World Summit of Heads of State and Government on Food Security, scheduled to take place from 16-18 November 2009, in Rome, Italy.

The document proposes elements of a new world food security governance structure and addresses agriculture mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
The document, titled “Secretariat contribution to defining the objectives and possible decisions of the World Summit on Food Security,” contains a section on climate change, which proposes that the Heads of State and Government, or their representatives, recognize the impacts of climate change on agriculture, forestry and fisheries, as well as water resources and extreme weather events. It stresses the need to prioritize climate change adaptation throughout the food chain to meet growing food demands; underscores the mitigating role of agriculture and forestry, noting that it could be enhanced; and emphasizes the importance that should be given to agriculture and food security on the agenda of the Copenhagen climate change conference this December.
The document also contains language on transboundary animal and plant pests and diseases, which recognizes the impacts of climate change on their distribution, incidence and intensity. [FAO press release][The document]