FAO and UNEP deepen their partnership

Published on September 27, 2019

The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, agreeing to collaborate on areas of common interests.

The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, agreeing to collaborate on areas of common interest including sustainable food systems, ecosystem services and biodiversity in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, data and statistics, and international legal instruments, legislation and regulatory matters.

The Memorandum of Understanding, which replenishes a formal collaboration the two UN agencies began in 1977, was signed by FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu and UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen.

"Both agencies pointed to the Sustainable Food System programme of the One Planet Network - a multi-stakeholder partnership with more than 95 partners including UN and government agencies, research institutions, the private sector and civil society - as an effective channel to combine their efforts to mobilize political and financial support to deliver jointly on Sustainable Development Goal #12: "Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns".

Read about the Memorandum of Understanding

The Sustainable Food Systems (SFS) Programme is a multi-stakeholder partnership focused on catalyzing more sustainable food consumption and production patterns. Our shared vision enables our partners to collaborate on joint initiatives, which range from normative, advocacy and policy support activities, to research and development projects as well as on-the-ground implementation activities that address our food systems challenges. The Programme promotes a holistic approach, taking into account the interconnections and trade-offs between all elements and actors in food systems.

The Sustainable Food Systems (SFS) Programme was launched in October 2015, as a multi-stakeholder programme to promote SCP patterns in the area of food and agriculture. It is co-led by Costa Rica, Switzerland and WWF, with the support of a Multi-stakeholder Advisory Committee (MAC) with 23 members from five different stakeholder clusters: