The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work together towards improving food security through the restoration and sustainable management of ecosystems.
The MoU describes a Strategic Partnership Plan and formalizes cooperation between the agencies on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in the broader context of the post-2015 development agenda.
26 September 2014: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work together towards improving food security through the restoration and sustainable management of ecosystems. The MoU describes a Strategic Partnership Plan and formalizes cooperation between the agencies on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in the broader context of the post-2015 development agenda.
FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva welcomed the collaboration, saying that it showed “a high degree of professionalism and enthusiasm in expanding our partnership.” UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner noted the different and complementary skills the agencies brought to ensuring healthy ecosystems, which he described as “the lifeblood of food security.”
The Strategic Partnership Plan outlines four priorities: implementation of the new Sustainable Food Systems Programme of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production; new and expanded work to maintain and enhance sustainable, productive ecosystems and support critical ecosystem functions; improved and ensured access to data, statistics and indicators on natural resource use and progress towards the SDGs, and the provision of information and methodologies to strengthen the science-policy interface; and joint support to develop and implement legal instruments that support the social dimension of sustainable food systems and ecosystems management. [UNEP Press Release] [FAO Press Release]