Mariam Almheiri, Minister, UAE, Climate Change & Environment, on Sunday said that global hunger issues cannot be fixed without fixing the global food systems and innovation and technology is required for that.

Almheiri said that technology should be leveraged for combating climate change.

“It is very important that technology and innovation is leveraged as much as we can. We at COP 26, with the United States of America, launched agriculture innovation mission (AIM) for climate. This is all about how to get countries to commit and invest in climate-resilient agricultural systems. What is really important is that we need to transform our food systems into not just sustainable food systems, but now we need to talk about resilient, equitable and sustainable food systems,” Almheiri said during an interview with CNBC-TV18, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2022.

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She added that AIM for climate was all about getting commitments from countries to invest more in R&D "because we need to accelerate our efforts,” she said.

Almheiri said that by 2050 we will have to make 50 percent more food than we make today. "So it's so important that we invest more in our food systems,” she said.

Talking about the startups in India, she said, "“India has so many startup companies that are really gaining momentum as well and we would love to see them come on board, and have a win-win situation where they use the UAE as a hub of innovation for for technologies."

Almheiri said UAE is known as a hub for food trade and they would also be like to known as a hub for innovation and technology, which is especially required now. "We cannot fix the food systems problem and world global hunger, if we don't fix our food systems. So we need innovation and technology to do that," she said.

Watch the video for the entire interview

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First Published:May 22, 2022 9:54 PM IST