Highlights and images for 25 February 2019

Kenya

  1. The Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity for Agriculture and Food (TEEBAgriFood) Global Symposium 2019

Summary

Highlights for Monday, 25 February 2019

L-R: Tomas Declercq, TEEB; Phumsith Mahasuweerachai and Jakrapun Suksawat, Khon Kaen University, Thailand

TEEB The Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity for Agriculture and Food (TEEBAgriFood) Global Symposium 2019 opened today at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. Opening the session, Salman Hussein, TEEB Coordinator, UNEP, noted that the TEEBAgriFood Evaluation Framework is intended to improve assessment of costs and benefits of “eco-agri-food” systems in order to achieve positive outcomes for farmers and consumers as well as for biodiversity and ecosystem services. He said that the Symposium would provide participants with hands-on experience on how to apply the TEEB approach in their respective countries.Thereafter, two break-out sessions took place during which participants exchanged country experiences from the following two TEEBAgriFood pilot projects:

  • Supporting biodiversity and climate-friendly land management in agricultural landscapes in Colombia, Tanzania, Kenya and Thailand, funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMU).
  • Promoting a sustainable agriculture and food sector in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico and Thailand, funded by the European Union Partnership Instrument.

    • During a lunchtime side event entitled ‘Planet Unplugged,' participants explored the hidden costs and benefits of eco-agri-food systems, drawing on key messages from the TEEBAgrifood Science and Economic Foundations Report.In the afternoon, participants took part in a communications and media outreach training facilitated by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). The objective of the training was to enable project partners to effectively disseminate key messages from TEEBAgriFood pilot projects targeted at both policy makers and the general public.

    IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage and a summary report from the TEEB for Agriculture & Food International Symposium, which is available in HTML and PDF.

    Photos by IISD/ENB | Francis Dejon

    For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page

    Opening of the pre-Symposium workshop
    Salman Hussain, Coordinator, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), UNEP
    Breakout Session on International Climate Initiative (IKI) Project
    Breakout Session on European Union Partnership Instrument (EU-PI) Project
    Mark Gough, Natural Capital Coalition
    Dolores Barrientos Alemán, UNEP
    Jasmin Hundorf, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
    Hesti Lestari Tata, Indonesia
    Linxiu Zhang, International Ecosystem Management Partnership, UNEP


    ‘Planet Unplugged’ Side Event
    Speakers at the side event, from left to right: Alexander Müller, TEEB AgriFood Study Leader; Susan Gardner, UNEP (Facilitator); Barbara Gemill-Herren, World Agroforestry Centre; and Pavan Sukhdev, President, WWF International Board
    IISD Communications and Media Outreach Training
    View of the room during the communications training session
    Matthew TenBruggencate, IISD, assisting participants
    IISD facilitators Matthew TenBruggencate and Tasha Goldberg

    Participants

    Negotiating blocs
    European Union