Summary
Welcome to the Pavilion Daily Recap, providing a snapshot of activities in and around the Pavilion. December 1 is the first full day of COP28, and as delegates and observers continue to arrive in Dubai, H.E. Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, announced at the World Climate Action Summit that 134 world leaders have endorsed the COP28 UAE Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action.
As news of the Declaration spread, the Pavilion, co-hosted by CGIAR, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the Rockefeller Foundation, was unfurling its first day of programming. The partners’ theme for the Pavilion is “Tackling the Food and Climate Crises, Together,” emphasizing both the interconnectedness of these two challenges and the importance of collaboration in addressing them.
During the 12 days of COP28, the Pavilion will provide a gathering place for partners and stakeholders, hosting 70 events and offering meeting spaces and conversation opportunities. Events will be available via livestream or recordings through the Pavilion homepage, ensuring engagement and learning can reach audiences worldwide.
Highlights
Through the first full day of event programming in the Pavilion, co-hosts and partners:
- An event held by FAO highlighted a partnership that is using nuclear sciences and biotechnologies to develop improved crop varieties, enhance animal productivity, control insect pests and animal diseases, and support flexible, responsive, and predictive food safety mechanisms to effectively deal with the effects of climate change. Learn more.
- An event held by the Rockefeller Foundation unveiled the first ever global price tag for the cost of regenerative and agroecological transitions. Learn more.
- An event held by IFAD underlined the challenges and gaps for global climate finance, and introduced innovative mechanisms to address these issues, with a focus on adaptation and nature financing for smallholder rural communities. Learn more.
- An event held by FAO launched a report focused on loss and damage in agrifood systems and highlighting the need for climate and agricultural data for enhancing climate finance and technical assistance. Learn more.
Photos and Videos
Watch recordings and see photos from the Pavilion on December 1. You can also visit the COP28 Food and Agriculture Pavilion YouTube playlist to see all recordings from the Pavilion.
Beyond the Pavilion
Co-host news and resources
- Ismahane Elouafi has assumed her position as CGIAR’s Executive Managing Director (EMD), leading the organization to deliver science and innovation for a food- and nutrition-secure future (CGIAR). Read more here.
- Twenty-five major philanthropies issued a joint call for a tenfold increase in funding for regenerative and agroecological transitions in a new report, “Cultivating Change: Accelerating and Scaling Agroecology and Regenerative Approaches” (Future of Food). Read more here.
- The USA contributes US$50 million to a new multi-donor trust fund addressing climate and food crises hosted by IFAD (IFAD). Read more here.
- FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu unveiled a new report that highlights the escalating threat of climate change-induced loss and damage to agrifood systems (FAO). Read more here.
- IFAD launches innovative financing mechanism to support small-scale food producers to adapt to climate change in Eastern Africa (IFAD). Read more here.
- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a partnership with the United Arab Emirates to jointly invest US$200 million in response to immediate and long-term threats to food security and nutrition caused by climate change. The Foundation has called for donors to support global agriculture research network CGIAR’s efforts to reach 500 million farmers by 2030 and reduce emissions from the agrifood sector by 1 gigaton per year (The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation). Read more here.
COP28 news
- Delegates adopted a new loss and damage fund to help the poorest and most vulnerable nations cope with the irreversible impacts of climate disasters (Reuters, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, The Loss & Damage Collaboration). Read more here, here, here and here.
- The UAE pledge US$30 billion for a new climate finance fund aimed at improving the flow of money into projects to reduce emissions, especially in the Global South (Bloomberg). Read more here.
- UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, and King Charles of the UK addressed delegates at the World Action Summit Opening ceremony.
- More than 130 prime ministers and presidents have signed the Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action — a first-of-its-kind commitment to adapt and transform food systems as part of broader climate action (The Guardian, FeedNavigator). Read more here, here and here.
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proposed that his country host COP33 in 2028, and has launched a “Green Credits Initiative” (EuroNews, The Times of India). Read more here and here.
- The UN Convention to Combat Desertification has released a report that finds droughts supercharged by global heating are creating “an unprecedented emergency on a planetary scale” (Bloomberg, UNCCD News). Read more here and here.
- The Deep Decarbonization Pathways (DDP) initiative has published a report, “African Perspectives of the First GST Outcome: A Focus on International Cooperation (IDDRI).” Read more here.
