UN agency sounds alarm, solutions to climate change and environmental degradation for women and girls and EIB supporting private sector investment. Here is what you missed from last week’s headlines in the international development sector:
UN agency sounds alarm: Dwindling agrobiodiversity ‘severe threat’ to food security
To help ensure the most-consumed foods don’t disappear in the face of the climate crisis, farmers must cultivate crops able to resist environmental shocks and other stresses, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) highlighted in a new set of conservation guidelines.

The Voluntary Guidelines for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Farmers Varieties spotlights the need for food systems to be sustainable, but the lack of variety and increasing uniformity of crops may render them unsuitable for the changing conditions under which they grow.
“It is worrisome that humans rely on only three crops – maize, wheat, and rice – for 51 percent of all plant-based food”, Assistant Director-General of the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department at FAO, Bukar Tijani, said in the publication’s foreword, highlighting that plants account for more than 80 percent of the human diet.
FAO documented the decline in agrobiodiversity 20 years ago, noting the “genetic erosion” in crops reported by almost all countries, and highlighting that diversity within species is at least as important as diversity between species.
Nairobi Summit looks at solutions to climate change and environmental degradation for women and girls
In mid-November, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) hosted a summit in Nairobi, Kenya to rally the political will and financial commitments urgently needed to implement the goals of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) adopted by 179 governments in Cairo.
That 1994 declaration recognized the delicate balance between population and natural resources. It asserted that the “population issue” should not be seen in isolation, but within a larger context of sustainable development, including curbing excessive consumption and generating productive growth, achieving sustainable agricultural and industrial production, and improving health care and access to education.
“Our world has, in many ways, profoundly changed over the last 25 years, and many new issues are influencing the field of population and development, including climate change, growing inequalities and exclusion within and between countries, migration and increasing demographic diversity,” the new Nairobi “Accelerating the Promise” statement declaration says.
EIB supporting private sector investment across Africa
African business and political leaders welcomed new EIB support to strengthen private sector investment across Africa at the Africa Investment Forum in South Africa.
At the start of the three-day investment conference, the EIB confirmed its new cooperation with African partners to enhance access to finance, improve energy efficiency, develop more reliable communications and accelerate financing for strategic infrastructure. The EIB also launched a new EUR 1 billion gender-focused investment initiative to ensure that African women can fully contribute to the continent’s future and unveiled a new analysis confirming the importance of resilient investment in Africa.
Two new operations in Malawi and Guinea demonstrate the added value of EIB support for high impact investment in fragile, climate-stressed and post-conflict states.
The EIB announced a new partnership to support small businesses in Malawi, and, in cooperation with the European Commission, a pioneering scheme to ensure agricultural smallholders in Malawi can access finance and overcome existing barriers to investment.
Here’s what else has happened
Green Climate Fund Board: The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is now financing climate action in over 100 developing countries after the final Board meeting of 2019 approved 13 new projects.
The 24th Board meeting closed after allocating USD 407.8 million, raising GCF’s total portfolio to USD 5.6 billion. This includes new transformative initiatives in China, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mozambique, Nepal, the Philippines and the State of Palestine. Combining co-financing by GCF’s funding partners, the newly approved projects will channel over USD 1.87 billion to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance climate resilience.
Olympics 2022: The Chinese city of Zhangjiakou has stepped up its efforts to deploy renewable energy systems, a new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) finds. The Agency’s first-ever roadmap 2050 for the city of Zhangjiakou sets an example for Chinese cities to run their energy systems off coal and take advantage of renewable energy. Zhangjiakou, home to 4.4 million people in the Hebei Province, will play an important role in achieving Beijing’s ambition for low-carbon Winter Olympic Games 2022. IRENA’s new report has been launched at the Great Wall World Renewable Energy Forum in China.
Montreal Protocol: Delegates representing 171 parties to the Montreal Protocol concluded their 31st Meeting of the Parties in Rome, Italy, last week, agreeing to a number of key decisions, including actions to discover and prevent any illegal production or consumption of controlled, ozone-depleting substances, including CFC-11.
Reports
New report offers details on how to maximize efforts to achieve both climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals
With the global challenge of climate action threatening progress made on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a new report from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) offers ways to better serve both the world’s efforts to achieve the goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement and the SDGs to ensure better lives for all people.
Read and download the report: “Maximizing Co-benefits by Linking Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and Climate Action”.
UNEP report warns plastic policies lagging behind in South-East Asia
A new UN Environment Programme (UNEP) assessment of plastic waste policies has determined that limited packaging-related policies and weak enforcement are aggravating the problem of plastic pollution in South-East Asian countries.
The report goes on to recommend that harmonized, pan-ASEAN policies would be a boon to countries in tackling the plastic pollution problem. It also suggests that countries would benefit from shared technology hubs in the ASEAN region for recycling and monitoring of the trade-in plastic waste.
Read and download the report: The Role of Packaging Regulations and Standards in Driving the Circular Economy.
UNIDO launches report on the G20 initiative on industrialization in Africa and least developed countries
During a workshop organized by UNDP and OECD for the G20 Development Working Group on 21 and 22 October in New York, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) launched the report on the G20 Initiative “Supporting Industrialization in Africa and LDCs, Review of Progress”.
Read and download the report: The G20 Initiative on Supporting Industrialization in Africa and LDCs.
Events
SheTrades Global 2019
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
19 November 2019
SheTrades Global is ITC’s flagship event on women and the economy, serving as a unique opportunity to pioneer lasting and innovative solutions for women’s participation in trade.
Youth Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment (YES) Forum 2019
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
20 November 2019
The second edition of the Youth Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment (YES) Forum offers a platform for young entrepreneurs to share knowledge and for stakeholders to partner on innovative approaches and best practices for youth entrepreneurship today.
2019 Forum on Globalization and Industrialization
Vienna, Italy
19 November 2019
The 2019 Forum on Globalization and Industrialization (FGI) is the fourth edition in a series of annual forums jointly organized by UNIDO, Kiel Centre for Globalization and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).