DG Qu Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),
DG Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO),
DG Monique Éloit, Director-General, World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH)
Colleagues and friends.
A year ago, we signed on the dotted line to become a Quadripartite. A year in which – despite lingering pandemic issues, geopolitical tensions and intensifying climate impacts – we saw much-needed wins for the environment.
The international community delivered an historic win for nature with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which we must now strive to bring to life. The UN General Assembly adopted a landmark resolution on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The establishment of a Loss and Damage Fund at COP 27 was an important, if tentative, step towards climate justice.
The Quadripartite has played its part by raising One Health up the global agenda.
One Health has a key role to play in turning these wins in conference halls to wins in the real world. And the Quadripartite is making strides towards this end.
The year started with UNEP bringing a spotlight on the issue of antimicrobial resistance through the report ‘Bracing for Superbugs’, launched at the 6th meeting of Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance. This report showed the importance of tackling AMR through a One Health response, and highlighted how environmental transmission is a major concern.
We brought together our joint expertise, delivered a One Health Joint Plan of Action, and closely supported the work of the One Health High-Level Expert Panel. The panel’s definition of One Health has had tremendous uptake; operationalizing this definition will be key.
My gratitude to all the teams working hard this past year, and to WHO for ably Chairing the Secretariat. Now, as we look ahead, and as UNEP takes over the Chair position – here are my three asks:
One, lift the One Health work even higher by connecting the dots with broader issues.
We must ensure that the world fully understands and acts on the overarching drivers of health risk, including climate change, land-use change, and environmental degradation.
Let’s look, for example, at pollution. Yes, the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on plastic pollution is underway. Yes, we have a science-policy panel on chemicals and waste in the works. Yes, UNEP, WHO and others have been working on air pollution, and other issues. But we must continue strengthening the links to human, animal and ecosystem health, including by shedding more light on issues such as open burning of plastic waste, endocrine-disrupting chemicals and the underpinning equity issues.
On biodiversity and nature, meanwhile, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework acknowledges the links between biodiversity and health. And calls on countries to integrate the One Health approach in National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans. The CBD COP also asked the Global Environment Facility and all partners to ramp up technical and financial support to mainstream biodiversity with other sectoral development activities. We need to make sure this happens.
The UN is undertaking a stock-taking moment to see how well we have delivered on the commitments from the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit. As a quadripartite, we should ask ourselves how One Health approaches support sustainable food systems transitions that enhance nutrition and food security.
Together, we have made progress on strengthening the environment dimensions of one health in the past year. But there is more to be done on this front.
Two, draw on each other’s strengths to bring solutions to country/regional level.
This team delivered a global Joint Plan of Action to scale up efforts on One Health. And now, as we build the ‘nuts and bolts’ of it to support country-level uptake, we need a clear line of sight between what we do and the impact on the ground.
We need to weigh in jointly on important considerations, such as: how we prioritize; how we deliver country work to ensure it is needs-based and demand driven, and how we jointly mobilize resources.
Let’s not forget that there are many lessons and good practices to draw from. The Nature4Health initiative – with UNEP as Secretariat, and the World Organisation for Animal Health and WHO as consortium partners – is a good example of bringing in a collaborative, systemic approach to strengthening the environmental dimension of One Health in pilot countries. The AMR UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund is a good example of strengthening our delivery through pooled funds to ensure countries receive technical assistance.
Three, recommit to an equal partnership, recognizing that each entity brings unique value and different characteristics.
We must recognize the comparative advantages of working together. And that we all bring unique expertise, perspectives, and as a collective, a distinct convening power. And that because of these differences, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Friends, a year on, this is our chance to pause and reflect.
UNEP as Chair of the Secretariat will take this forward by initiating a process to collaborate better. I count on you all leaning in to this learning and iterative process.
Thank you.
