Inclusive Green Growth Department

Week 2 of #COP16 in Cali kicks off with an inspiring side event from our partner SeedNL that highlights how Public-Private Partnerships (PPP’s) can successfully contribute to biodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of genetic resources, while fostering innovation and inclusivity. The conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources are fundamental to achieving global biodiversity goals and ensuring long-term food security. Genetic resources—such as plant varieties and seeds—serve as the backbone of agricultural systems and biodiversity protection. However, despite their critical importance, these resources are under increasing threat due to climate change, land use pressures, and insufficient conservation measures. PPP's in both conservation and sustainable use are essential to address complex global challenges like biodiversity loss, sustainable agriculture, and food security. During the side event, an expert panel presented concrete examples of PPP’s that demonstrate the essential role the private sector can play in supporting biodiversity goals, while ensuring sustainable and profitable outcomes in connection to the seed sector. The event aimed to open a conversation on creating effective environments for such collaborations as well as challenge existing stereotypes on PPP’s. One of the lessons learned today was: “use it or lose it!” To be able to conserve plant genetic resources, the seeds and potatoes need to be used otherwise we will lose them. The way to do this is to be as inclusive as possible with local producers and contribute to their self-identified needs. Getting food production with local seed varieties nature-positive needs a systemic approach. Local varieties are better adapted, need fewer chemical inputs, and implemented well within the landscape - these systems will make the ecosystem more diverse! #COP16 #food #security #PPPs Partners for Water COP16 Colombia

On day 3 of #COP16 in Cali, our partner Tropenbos International hosted a session sharing insights and success stories from 5 countries from around the globe who have implemented inclusive landscape approaches to reduce risks and impacts of wildfires in the tropics. 🔥 The World Resources Institute (WRI) recently reported that forest fires are becoming more common and widespread, burning at least twice as much tree cover today as they did two decades ago. Almost 12 million hectares of forest — an area roughly three times the size of The Netherlands — was lost in 2023 due to forest fires. Unfortunately, this is part of a longer trend of increasing fire activity, with record-setting forest fires becoming the norm. Tropenbos has been working on this through the Working Landscapes Programme which is committed to halt deforestation and forest degradation by 2030. In 2021 the subprogram “Fire-smart landscape governance: from opportunity to lasting change” was added to the Working Landscapes Programme to find workable solutions to reduce the risk and impact of forest fires. Particularly the landscape approach - through which multiple social and environmental drivers, challenges and opportunities are coherently considered and addressed - is an important tool in keeping forest standing, for people and for nature. 💡 A proof of concept and beautiful insight was shared during the session by Tropenbos Bolivia (IBIF): in the middle of the torment of the forest fires in the past year, none of the communities under the Working Landscapes Programme have experienced losses of cultivation fields or homes during the 2023-2024 fire season, despite facing Bolivia's worst fire season in history.

“Valuing the Hydrological Cycle as a Global Common Good” Last week, the Global Commission on the Economics of Water published their highly-anticipated #EconomicsOfWater Report. In their report, the GCEW argues for a new water economics paradigm, introduces 5 missions to address the water crisis across food systems, ecosystems, cities, industries, and citizens’ health & well-being, and offers recommendations for each of these. The Global Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW) was convened by The Netherlands and received support from the OECD - OCDE. 

Today, the 2024 UN Biodiversity Conference COP16 Colombia kicks off in Cali🌎 During the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 196 countries gather to discuss the state of life on Earth, negotiate decisions to preserve biodiversity and halt the destruction of nature. Governments, indigenous communities, businesses, civil society, academia, and the general public will discuss progress towards the 23 targets set in The Global Biodiversity Framework and negotiate how they will be monitored to ensure a safe and habitable future for us and our planet. According to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) #biodiversity – the diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems – is declining faster than at any time in human history. They highlight that current negative trends in biodiversity and ecosystems will undermine progress towards 80 per cent of the Sustainable Development Goals #SDG’s related to poverty, hunger, health, water, cities, climate, oceans and land 🏞 The next two weeks the Inclusive Green Growth Department (IGG) and many of our partners will be present at the Netherlands Pavilion to showcase some of the nature positive activities that we are working on. As the causes for the decline in biodiversity are very much related to food security, water and climate change, biodiversity mainstreaming will be high on the agenda at the COP16 side events. The coming two weeks we will update you regularly on the key take-aways and lessons learnt during the side events. Stay tuned for updates on our page! #COP16 #biodiversity #NLPavilion #foodsecurity #watermanagement

🌍 Today is World Food Day, a reminder that 733 million people are facing hunger worldwide. The Netherlands Food Partnership (NFP) is hosting the 6th Dutch edition of World Food Day, themed "Navigating a Changing World." This event aims to address and discuss the challenges and opportunities surrounding global food and nutrition security — which is essential for a safe, stable, and healthy life. Through fostering coalitions and partnerships, NFP brings together stakeholders from the Netherlands and the Global South in their efforts to achieve #SDG2. This event – co-organized with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security, and Nature – gathers experts to discuss the needs of stakeholders, policy implications, and the international impact of food security initiatives. 💡 Our director Wampie Libon participated in the opening panel and emphasized the importance of collaboration with the private sector, knowledge institutes, and NGOs, both from the Netherlands and at the national level. These partnerships are essential for our programming to achieve context-specific and relevant interventions.   🌱 In a video message, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Reinette Klever | Minister BHO, emphasized the importance to use Dutch expertise on innovation in agriculture, create more equal-footed relationships with partner countries, help to build capacity in countries that need it, and with this improve food security. A big thank you to NFP for organizing this great day!

CALL FOR PROPOSAL: NDC Expert to support the Mozambican Water Sector As part of the Netherlands' commitment to sustainable development and climate action, the Netherlands is actively supporting Mozambique's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) process. The Inclusive Green Growth (IGG) Department of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the NL Embassy in Mozambique, wants to support the NDC process within the existing decentralized cooperation programs. The aim of the intervention is to support the preparation and implementation of the next NDC (version 3) for the water sector in coordination with Ministry of Land and Environment of Mozambique (MTA) through NDC Partnership, by providing a permanent consultant sitting at National Directorate of Water Resources Management (DNGRH) of the Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources (MOPHRH). Deadline: All proposals must be received by 5:00pm EST on Wednesday, 23 October For more information, please visit the link: https://lnkd.in/eaHnyYMC NDC Partnership Inclusive Green Growth Department Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken

The Netherlands is home to some of the world’s leading water institutes. Last week, the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development visited two of these renowned institutions.   At IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Dutch water knowledge is shared around the world through a vast network of global alumni. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs supports two of IHE-Delft’s programmes: the Water, Peace, and Security Partnership and the Water Development Partnership Programme which focuses on the water-food nexus. Furthermore, we work together in following-up on the UN2023 Water Conference.   Deltares plays an important role in the global activities of the Dutch water sector. As part of their research facilities, Deltares is home to several hydro basins and a large delta flume used to study coastal protection and wave energy conversion. 

Going to COP16 on Biodiversity? 🌿 Meet us at the Netherlands Pavilion for the latest insights and innovations in water and biodiversity. The Netherlands Pavilion is a knowledge-sharing platform where you can connect with key stakeholders and fellow professionals, and explore: 🔹 Financial strategies for aligning biodiversity goals 🔹 Expert sessions on sustainable food systems, biodiversity monitoring, and water stewardship 🔹 Innovative solutions across finance, biodiversity, and water management 🗓️ The 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) on Biological Diversity will take place in Cali, Colombia, from 21 October to 1 November. Participants from over 190 countries will gather to discuss national and international biodiversity strategies and action plans, among other key topics. Visit the Netherlands Pavilion at COP16 and become part of the global conversation on water and biodiversity. Check the programme for a full list of who will be speaking at the Netherlands Pavilion➡️https://lnkd.in/eszhxEkm The programming of the Netherlands Pavilion is coordinated by Partners for Water, Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Waterstaat, and the Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken #partnersforwater #COP16 #biodiversity #watersecurity #watermanagement #innovation #RVO #NBS #naturebasedsolutions #climateadapatation #waterbiodiversityfood #netherlands #NLPavilion Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) | Partner in Sustainable Development, Bram van der Wielen, Liliane Geerling, Tamar Meibergen, Emma Voncken, Sander Carpay, Ylva Veldhuis, Alejandra Roetenberg, Netherlands, COP16 Colombia, Iris Bijlsma, Simon van Meijeren, Ivo Walsmit, Anna Vreeburg, Inclusive Green Growth Department, Lynn van Rennes

The impact of the Processus Intensif de Planification (PIP) approach and Landright support on Idjwi Island in South Kivu, Congo 🌾   The Transition for Inclusive Development (TRIDE) project, a consortium of VNG International, ZOA, and Agriterra, is focusing on the empowerment of smallholder farmers and their families in order to enhance food and nutrition security.   Through the PIP approach and tailored agricultural training, farmers learn to implement more productive and sustainable agricultural practices that increase productivity, optimize resource use, and promote resilience against climate change.   Building on this approach, TRIDE works with the cadaster in close collaboration with the government and the chiefdoms and civil society to strengthen tenant contracts of smallholders with landowners.   By fostering ownership and collaboration, the PIP approach not only boosts food and nutrition security for smallholder farmers and their families in Idjwi, but also enables communities to drive their own development in building a better future which strengthens and empowers smallholders around the tenant interventions.    #PIPApproach #SmallholderFarmers #FoodandNutritionSecurity #Congo #Landrights

Last Monday our Dutch #COP29 delegation hosted an information and round table event with the Dutch NGO sector on the themes and priorities of this year’s COP29! The morning started with a briefing on this year’s priorities during the negotiations by our head of delegation Jori Keijsper. After the briefing, the International Climate Coalition presented their position paper for COP29 highlighting their main messages and priorities. After the presentations, thematic roundtables were formed to discuss on the overarching theme’s of this years negotiation process: mitigation, adaptation, climate finance, voluntary carbon markets, water, food security, gender, and biodiversity. We look back on a highly interactive morning of fruitful discussions and knowledge sharing! 👐