37th SESSION OF FAO CONFERENCE

SIDE EVENT

FAO PREPARATIONS FOR RIO+20:

GREENING THE ECONOMY WITH AGRICULTURE (GEA)

Tuesday 28 June 2011, 13:00 to 14:30 hours

Iran Room, FAO, Rome

The Government of Switzerland and the FAO Secretariat have the pleasure to invite you to a Side Event to inform you on FAO’s preparations for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 4 to 6 June 2012. This event is also referred to as Rio+20.

The United Nations General Assembly (GA A/64/420/Add.1) agreed to convene the UNCSD and the Government of Brazil has kindly offered to host the meeting (as in 1992) in Rio de Janeiro. The two main themes of the Conference agreed upon by the General Assembly are: 1) a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and 2) the institutional framework for sustainable development.

FAO is engaged in the preparations for the UNCSD in order to address the complex concept of sustainability, including the inter-linked environmental, social and economics dimensions. More specifically, FAO is committed to explore how the green economy concept translates in the food and agriculture sector. Considering the importance of agriculture, forestry and fisheries in alleviating poverty and the great impact (positive or negative) of its management on natural resources, these sectors are essential parts of any green economy strategy. A green economy needs a dual effort in increasing food and agriculture productivity, while improving both ecological and economic efficiency in the use of resources throughout the food chain: from the resources used and recycled during production, through waste minimization during post-harvest handling, processing, retailing and consumption, to fair trading.

With the financial support of Switzerland, FAOhas launcheda specific initiative, the “Greening the Economy with Agriculture (GEA) Initiative” whichoverall objectiveis to mobilize the food and agriculture sector for Rio+20 and beyond on the green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty alleviation. The purpose of the Side Event is to inform member countries on the international policy dialogue on-going in New York, as well as on FAO’s preparations towards this end.

Agenda

13:00OPENING

  • Jacques Chavaz, Deputy Director-General, Federal Office for Agriculture, Switzerland
  • Ann Tutwiler, Deputy Director-General, FAO
  • A representative of Brazil, the Rio+20 conference’s host country

13:15RIO+20

  • Elizabeth Thompson, Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Coordinator, Secretariat for Rio+20, UN
  • H.E. John Ashe, Co-chair of the Bureau for Rio+20, Antigua and Barbuda

13:35FAO@RIO+20

  • Alexander Müller, Assistant Director-General, Natural Resources Management and Environment Department, FAO

13:50Interventions from civil society representatives

14:00Clarification questions from member countries

14:30End of the meeting

Refreshments, served in the lounge at the entrance of Iran room