March 1, 2019
UN Names 2020 International Year of Plant Health
The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution proclaiming 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH). The effort is expected to increase awareness among the public and policy makers of the importance of healthy plants and the necessity to protect them in order to achieve sustainable development goals.
“The International Year of Plant Health is a key initiative to highlight the importance of plant health to enhance food security, protect the environment and biodiversity, and boost economic development,” International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Secretary, Jingyuan Xia said.
“Despite the increasing impact of plant pests, resources are scarce to address the problem. We hope this new International Year of Plant Health will trigger greater global collaboration to support plant health policies at all levels, which will contribute significantly to the Sustainable Development Agenda,” he added.
The UN General Assembly invited the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with the IPPC Secretariat, to serve as the lead agency to spearhead activities, and called on governments, civil society, and the private sector to engage at global, regional and national levels. An International Plant Health Conference will be among thousands of plant health events to be held globally throughout 2020.
The IPPC is an international treaty from 1952 that provides a framework to protect the world’s plant resources from the harm caused by pests. It is currently composed of 183 contracting parties.