– 12 new countries signal support for AIM for Climate to drive climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation, bringing the total to 30 countries!

NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — The Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate), a major initiative to transform the global agricultural sector, announced the support of 12 new countries, as well as the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The announcement took place as part of the United Nations Food Systems Summit in New York.

The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Finland, Georgia, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Lithuania, Morocco, New Zealand, Romania, and Sweden now join existing initiative supporters Australia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Colombia, Denmark, Ghana, Honduras, Hungary, the Republic of Korea, Israel, Mexico, the Philippines, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Uruguay, Ukraine, and Vietnam, as well as the United Kingdom’s COP26 Presidency.

Qu Dongyu, FAO Director General said: “The future of agri-food systems needs to be built on science and innovation, to address the complex challenges facing humanity, especially due to the impacts of the climate crisis. AIM for Climate is an important initiative to help increase investments in innovative solutions that can accelerate global agri-food systems transformation. As the lead UN agency specialized in agri-food systems, FAO helps to harness the latest developments in the rapidly changing scenarios of science, technology and innovation, playing a key role in mapping out and disseminating new solutions.”

AIM for Climate was jointly previewed in April by U.S. President Joe Biden and the UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum at President Biden’s Leaders Summit on Climate. Scheduled for launch at the 26^th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), initiative participants commit to significantly increase investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation over the next five years in support of climate action.