Global Challenges and Future Direction
| February 2, 2010 | to | February 3, 2010 |
| March 16, 2010 | to | March 17, 2010 |
A policy seminar on the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGR), held in Bari, Italy (December 2009), addressed global challenges and future direction for the ITPGR. Participants assessed the Treaty’s role in addressing the global challenges of agricultural biodiversity, food security and climate change. Among others, they identified a strong need for advocacy on the Treaty’s role as a central instrument for climate change adaptation policy, and on the crucial role of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture as the basis for global food security in the climate change context.
Implementation of the benefit-sharing fund of the Treaty’s Funding Strategy received a boost, as Spain announced a contribution of two million Euros. The outcomes of the seminar will be forwarded to a high-level round table on the Treaty, to be organized by the Italian Government in 2010.
From 18-19 January 2010, in Rome, Italy, the first Meeting of the Ad Hoc Advisory Technical Committee on the standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA) and the Multilateral System was held. The meeting addressed implementation questions raised by users of the Multilateral System and the SMTA.
The ITPGR calendar for the next six months includes the first Meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Compliance (2-3 February 2010, Rome, Italy) and the second Meeting of the Capacity-Building Coordination Mechanism (16-17 March 2010, Rome, Italy). Further resources:
