Ambassador Martin Selmayr with Brazil at FAO – Bioeconomy at FAO WFF week

Many countries in the world are currently working on new or updated Bioeconomy Strategies to give farmers a new economic lifeline, to strengthen circularity and to promote sustainable agrifood systems. The bioeconomy is an important theme for multilateral cooperation - to ensure progressive convergence of best practices and standards and to support cross-border trade. This is why this week, the EU and Brazil launched, at the UN’s FAO in Rome, a new “Group of Friends” on the Bioconomy. 

Earlier this year, EU Commissioners Christophe Hansen, Responsible for Agriculture and Jessika Roswall, Responsible for Environment, had underlined the importance of international cooperation on the bioeconomy in discussions with the management of FAO. Ambassador Martin Selmayr was very happy to co-preside the new “Group of Friends” together with his colleague Carla Barroso Carneiro, Brazil’s committed Ambassador to the UN in Rome, as a sign of their joint commitment to the rules-based international system, EU’s External Action Service (EEAS) and International Partnerships (INTPA). Several countries from all continents already expressed their interest to join the new group. 

Thanks a lot in particular to Patrick Child, Deputy Director-General of the EU Commission’s DG Environment, and to Brazil’s National Secretary of Bioeconomy, Carina Pimenta, for their inspiring words on the forthcoming Bioeconomy Strategies of the EU and of Brazil. And to FAO’s knowledgeable Kaveh Zahedi, FAO Director for Climate, Biodiversity and Environment, for the important work of his team on data, principles, projects and best practices.

EUDEL