A high-level event that convened during the 25th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 25) addressed the impacts of climate change on the achievement of SDG 2 (zero hunger). It discussed the important role of technological innovation in overcoming this challenge. The event titled, ‘Linking Technological Innovation and Climate Change Actions for a World Free of Hunger, Malnutrition, and Poverty,’ underscored the importance of bringing SDG 2 into climate discussions.

Addressing participants, Luis Planas Puchades, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Spain, highlighted the important role of technology and innovation in creating sustainable, climate-friendly agricultural practices. Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu, Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Zimbabwe, pointed out the need for innovation and the implementation of transformative adaptation and mitigation efforts, including climate-smart agriculture (CSA). 
 
Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, Minister of Environment and Energy, Costa Rica, urged adding policy development to science, technology and action in the discourse on fighting climate change and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. He stressed the need for ministries of environment and agriculture to work together to ensure more sustainable and environmentally-friendly food production. 
 
Speakers also: noted that traditional knowledge and observations by indigenous peoples can help predict weather and climatic conditions, which can be used to enhance food security; underscored the need to incorporate traditional knowledge into national planning processes; stressed the need to empower farmers; called for placing traditional knowledge on the same footing as western science to achieve the SDGs; and urged coherence between farmers, governments and the private sector.
 
This event, which convened on 12 December, was organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), World Food Programme (WFP), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. [IISD RS Coverage of the High-level Event] [Announcement for the Event] 
 
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IISD Reporting Services is providing coverage of selected side events during the UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid, which met through 13 December.