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 on working closely with the multilateral, sources of funding and the need to formulate a sustainable debt relief plan immediately to ensure global food security.  

The President further stated 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  Wickremesinghe made these remarks while participating at the Round Table  discussion on “Food Security” at the ongoing COP-27 Conference on Climate Change, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.