King Faisal University Announces the Recommendations of the Second International Conference on Food Security and Environmental Sustainability

King Faisal University announced the recommendations that emerged from the Second International Conference on Food Security and Environmental Sustainability. It is worth noting that King Faisal University hosted and organized the conference, from November 5-7, 2023 AD, under the patronage of Prince Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Eastern Province, and in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Saud bin Talal bin Badr, Governor of Al-Ahsa,

The Scientific Committee issued a statement containing the conference’s recommendations, the most prominent of which is emphasizing the necessity of strengthening international cooperation in the field of technical research and development, supporting sustainable agricultural practices, adopting modern technologies to increase productivity, reduce negative environmental impacts, and emphasizing the importance of investment in developing agricultural infrastructure, improving irrigation systems and using water resources in more effective ways, enhancing public awareness of the importance of food security and environmental sustainability, educating society about sustainable agricultural practices, and the necessity of building partnerships between the public and private sectors to achieve these goals. The recommendations stressed the importance of research and development in the field of agricultural technology, with a focus on developing the capabilities of workers in this sector, providing them with training, and adopting strategies for biodiversity within cities and increasing green spaces.

The recommendations also included a call to increase awareness of the environmental risks resulting from hazardous waste, encourage research and innovation to find effective and environmentally friendly solutions to reduce hazardous waste, and the need for policies aimed at reducing the environmental impacts of plastic and providing incentives to recycle and reuse plastic materials to include the following: Imposing taxes on the uses of plastic materials, including plastic containers, providing incentives that encourage the reuse and recovery of plastic materials, reducing the use of single-use plastic tools, providing economic incentives to support recycled plastic markets, and strengthening work to encourage waste sorting at the source, enhancing international cooperation to achieve zero - net plastic leakage, working to protect human health and the environment from the impact of hazardous waste, encouraging environmentally sound management of hazardous waste and ensuring the availability of safe means of disposal, reducing the generation of hazardous waste and its degree of danger, limiting the transportation of hazardous waste across borders, and preparing and distributing guidance bulletins on the harms and dangers of waste with persistent organic pollutants, promoting equity, efficiency and sustainability by understanding how product specifications impact the region socially and environmentally, promoting a sound legal and institutional system for the geographical indication to protect producers and consumers, exchanging knowledge, experiences and successes to support the development of existing and new geographical indications, and benefiting from waste through commercially sustainable and environmentally friendly models of particleboard, increasing interest in manufacturing innovative and competitive models from wood waste, raising the level of wood waste processing to a higher level to recycle it instead of burning it, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and thus global warming by recycling agricultural waste.