Ministers of agriculture to meet in Chile to promote the sector’s role in mitigating climate change, with the participation of IICA

Santiago, Chile, 11 April 2023 (IICA). The ministers of agriculture and ambassadors of more than 20 countries will meet this week in Santiago, Chile for the First Ministerial Conference on Low-Emission Food Systems, with the participation of Manuel Otero, Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

This meeting of international consequence, whose purpose is to position agriculture as an important sector in providing innovative solutions to the climate crisis, will be co-chaired by Esteban Valenzuela, Minister of Agriculture of Chile, and Luis Planas, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Spain. Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, is slated to participate in the opening ceremony to take place on Thursday, April 13.

The two-day meeting will serve to promote a high-level dialogue regarding global perspectives on decreasing methane emissions and low-emission food systems. The end goal is to create synergies between the ministers and international organizations to promote climate change mitigation and resilience in agricultural production and to share the successful experiences of participating countries and entities.

The conference will take place within the framework of the commitment made by more than 100 countries at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP 26) to reduce global methane emissions by 30% by 2030. It is supported by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and IICA, among other international organizations.

Meeting of the Southern Agricultural Council

Also on the agenda for Chile, IICA’s Director General will participate in a meeting of ministers and top agricultural officials from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, comprising the Southern Agricultural Council (CAS).

At the meeting, the discussion will focus on the health situation in the countries regarding the bird flu outbreak and phytosanitary controls at the borders. The meeting will include the participation of representatives from the World Bank, a multilateral financial organization with which they are working to create a regional fund to deal with the economic consequences of the drought in the Southern Cone.

Manuel Otero and Minister Esteban Valenzuela will also participate in the launch in Chile of the study “Rural connectivity in Latin America and the Caribbean. State of play, challenges and actions for digitalization and sustainable development”. The document was written by IICA together with the World Bank, Microsoft and CAF-Development Bank of Latin America.

More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int