International Community Must Lend Its Full Weight Behind Range of Measures to Address Financing Crisis, Deputy Secretary-General Tells Food Systems Summit

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks at the United Nations Food Systems Summit+2 Stocktaking Moment, in Rome today:

It is with great honour — and great urgency — that I address you today, as we gather in support of our ocean as a key source of food and nutrition, especially for small island developing States.

Beyond sustaining diverse ecosystems, mitigating climate change, and ensuring food security, our ocean generates significant socioeconomic benefits and employment opportunities.

In other words, the ocean’s importance in achieving sustainable development cannot be overstated.  Yet, we cannot turn a blind eye to the mounting pressures that threaten the ocean’s vitality and resilience.

Pollution, overfishing, overexploitation, acidification and the impacts of climate change and increasing sea surface temperatures disrupt the ocean’s vital functions, imperil biodiversity and deplete its resources that are vital for people and planet alike.

And once again, small island developing States are paying the highest price.  They are already struggling with rising poverty and hunger, on top of broken supply chains and less access to international markets.  The crises facing our ocean and its resources add immense pressure to these struggles.

For these countries, the ocean and maritime species are not merely resources — they are intrinsically connected to national and cultural identities, progress on sustainable development and efforts to build resilient “blue economies” that can sustain them in the face of shocks.

The challenges facing the ocean — combined with the economic and environmental burdens these countries already face — represent an immediate threat.  For vulnerable people, the effects are all too immediate.

For example, between June 2022 and September 2022, nearly 94 per cent of small island developing States faced food inflation levels above 5 per cent, with many experiencing inflation in the double digits.

For economically vulnerable people, this puts nutritious food out of reach, resulting in skipped meals and the consumption of cheaper but far less nutritious food.  This can have far-reaching impacts on people’s health — especially children, women and the poor.

None of these challenges can be properly addressed without tackling the issue of access to finance.  On average, each dollar invested in the sustainable ocean economy is estimated to yield $5 in return.  Despite the clear benefits, existing “rules” for concessional finance have long kept many small island developing States at bay.

Now is the time to change this.  The international community must lend its full weight behind a range of measures to address the financing crisis.  This means countries rallying behind the Secretary-General’s call for a Sustainable Development Goals Stimulus, to scale up affordable long-term financing for all countries in need, by at least $500 billion a year.

It also means mobilizing incentives to improve food trade measures, boost institutional capacities and enhance local resilience and data in support of food systems transformation.  It means leveraging the high-level panel on the multidimensional vulnerability index to improve access to concessional finance and explore new ways for development partners and agencies to tailor support to vulnerable countries as they transform their food systems.

We must also address the debt crisis, through innovative support mechanisms to mitigate debt distress, tackle broader social spillover impacts and boost social spending on key priorities like food security.  For example, pledges to “swap” debt for nature or climate can help fund resilience and provide needed relief, while building green and blue transition pathways that can support sustainable, diverse and resilient ocean food systems.

We must also work to eliminate the obstacles that vulnerable countries face in accessing climate finance.  At the same time, we must increase investments in adaptation, prioritizing funding for small island developing States to meet growing demands to enable climate-resilient communities.  The Green Climate Fund is well poised to address funding for adaptation.  Governments need to ambitiously replenish the Green Climate Fund at the scale needed to deliver impact.

The promise made in Glasgow to double adaptation finance above 2019 levels must be delivered, and we must continue to endeavour to ensure that half of all climate finance flows to adaptation.

The loss and damage fund established under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change opens a window of justice for countries suffering the impacts of climate change.  It must be operationalized at the twenty-eighth Conference of the Parties [to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change].  Its expeditious capitalization and operationalization will be a show of our commitment to climate justice.  This is a test that the global community must pass.

We have a number of upcoming opportunities to build momentum to address all of these issues — including the Sustainable Development Goals Summit, the Climate Ambition Summit and the twenty-eighth Conference of the Parties.  We’re also committed to supporting an ambitious and action-oriented Programme of Action at the 2024 International Conference on Small Island Developing States, with a strong focus on food-system transformations.  And the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference in France will provide another critical opportunity to accelerate action for our ocean across all areas — including food systems.

Across all of this work, the United Nations is proud to work with all of you, as we deliver action, progress and results for our ocean and the food systems it supports around the world.  Together, let us recognize the urgency of protecting our oceans and coastal ecosystems, safeguarding the future of food systems in small island developing States, and forging a path towards a more sustainable and equitable world that benefits all people.