Sharjah 24 – WAM: Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and the Environment, called upon global nations to leverage the significant opportunity offered by COP28 in the UAE to drive climate action, with a special focus on food systems transformation and promoting nature-based solutions.
This was during her high-level meetings on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
Almheiri, who is also the COP28 Food Systems Lead, underlined the importance of collective action to create more sustainable global food systems, highlighting the prominence placed by the UAE on food and agriculture in the COP28 agenda.
She also marked the UAE’s endorsement of the Mangrove Breakthrough and announced the Mangroves Ministerial to be hosted at COP28 on the Nature, Oceans and Land Use Day to drive forward discussions to advance nature-based solutions.
During her participation in the Ministerial Panel Discussion on the High Impact Initiative Food Systems, organised by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), she explained the importance of the COP28 Food Systems and Agriculture Agenda, which focuses on four key domains of country-led action, non-state actor leadership and action, innovation scaling, and finance.
Inviting all countries to exemplify national leadership by signing the first-ever Emirates Declaration on Food Systems, Agriculture and Climate Action, which was sent to all Agriculture Ministers for their feedback by September 27th.
Almheiri said the UAE’s goal is to further galvanise collective action to transform the food system.
Throughout the week, Almheiri took part in a series of successful bilateral meetings. These included meetings with Vincent Van Quickenborne, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Justice and the North Sea of Belgium; Svenja Schulze, Germany’s Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany; Steffi Lemke, Germany’s Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection; and Idit Silman, Israel’s Minister of Environmental Protection.
These bilateral meetings have been pivotal in fostering collaborations for climate action, recognising the shared commitment to tackling climate change head-on. These engagements also exemplified the UAE’s dedication to a sustainable future, where innovation, cooperation, and ambition pave the way for transformative action on the global stage.
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