General Statement by The Minister of Agriculture and Food of Norway

Chairperson and colleagues,

The number of people suffering from hunger is still increasing. Thus, a reformed FAO is more important than ever.

Climate change in combination with lack of access to food and natural resources will place unprecedented pressures on our ability to provide the food we need for a growing world population.  

As pointed out by the Report of the Independent External Evaluation -IEE, the world needs FAO, but a reformed FAO. FAO will never justify its rightful place in the international architecture unless we see real reform. We find ourselves in the middle of the most comprehensive reform process any UN organization has ever seen. We thank staff and fellow colleagues for the immense work invested in the reform process so far.

It is vital that we keep up the momentum for reform and that we do not loose pace. Too little progress has been made, and practical results of the process need to be seen.
The important task for us at this Conference is to continue our joint efforts to implement the Immediate Plan of Action- IPA. This is our joint reform, and it is  therefore crucial that costs of implementing the IPA is carried by the entire membership, and consequently included in the net appropriation of the next biennium budget. 

Chair ,

A major concern for my delegation is that the financing of the reform so far has been largely based on voluntary contributions and not assessed contributions. This financing mechanism does not provide for predictable resources to the reform process at a critical point in time. The reform costs must be met with assessed contributions to ensure joint responsibility and ownership to the reform process. 

Prioritization is a key word for the work ahead of us. It is imperative that the Technical Commities, as well as other bodies of FAO, make concrete use of the new framework for Results-Based Management, and provide necessary prioritization within their respective areas. In this way we will be able to put the reform into practice and adopt the Programme of Work and Budget -PWB and Medium Term Plan - MTP based on this prioritization.

Adapting agriculture to the future conditions of climate change is crucial. There will be a need for crop varieties that can withstand the challenges of climate change, such as crops that can cope with heat, drought, flood and other extremes. Our ability to breed these new varieties can not be taken for granted, as it is undermined by a loss of the biological basis of our food supply, the genetic diversity of crops. FAO, its Commission on Genetic Resources and its International Treaty, as well as the Global Crop Diversity Trust, are all central  intergovernmental instruments for promoting conservation, sustainable use and the fair and equitable benefit sharing.

FAOs must strengthen its interdisciplinary capacity to improve the output of its work. This applies particularly to the work that is being done to face climate change. A key message from the technical committees is that climate change is a cross-sectoral challenge that must be dealt with accordingly. 

Our challenge ahead is to meet the global demand for food while at the same time preserving the natural resource base that is the foundation of agricultural production. Sustainable management of natural resources, based on an ecosystem approach, will be central to all our efforts. FAOs normative work is of particular importance in this respect, and especially so for the international, regional and national regimes on fisheries management.

The contribution from fisheries and aquaculture to the global food security is essential, including their nutritional value and positive health effects. Sustainable use of the world’s living marine and fresh water aquatic resources is not limited to harvesting and production itself, we must also focus on safe and healthy fish products, The fight against IUU-fishing is yet another aspect of this, as is also reflected in the International Agreement on Port State Measures negotiated under the auspices of the FAO.

While focusing on the areas where FAO is best placed to intervene, FAO must also put a strong emphasis on partnerships with other development partners, including through One UN. This is crucial for a more effective FAO, and within the Paris and Accra declarations on harmonization. FAO must work so that the knowledge it possesses is multiplied through interaction with other partners with a stronger presence at field level. 

The outcome of the reform discussion of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) is promising. We share a common responsibility to ensure that CFS becomes the global hub for discussing and issuing policy advice on food security. 

Agriculture and food security is on the top of the agenda internationally, demonstrated  by this Summit and by the l’ Aquila-statement from June this year. I would like to stress the need for joint global action involving both the UN system, International Finance Institutions, NGOs/CSOs, and private actors. This is the international architecture on food security, and the reformed FAO must play its rightful role in it.

Thank you for your attention,