COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe urged the Secretary-General of the UN and Egypt, as the head of the COP27, to summon a meeting of all Ministers of Agriculture of all the countries to assess the food requirements of 2023 and 2024 and submit a report on the food situation.
The President also emphasized the need to work closely with multilateral, and sources of funding and formulate a sustainable debt relief plan immediately to ensure global food security.The President further said that it is essential to finalize this plan by February 2023 and should be implemented by the end of the 1st quarter of 2023, if not the damage caused to the political and social structures of countries will be irreparable.
He also highlighted the urgent need of compiling a medium-term plan to ensure global food security At COP28.President Ranil Wickremesinghe made these remarks while participating in the Round Table discussion on “Food Security” at the ongoing COP-27 Conference on Climate Change, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.The full text is as follows:“There are nearly one billion people who are suffering from hunger today, and according to the IMF, over 300 million people’s livelihoods are in danger.
Countries affected fall into two categories,1. Countries where food is no longer available. These countries either have no means to buy food due to rising costs or are unable to produce their food.2.