Natural Plant Fibres and Sustainable Development

A/RES/78/169View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 23b Natural plant fibres and sustainable development, published in 2023.

What other versions does this mandate have?

3 versions · 2020–2023

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2023	A/RES/78/169	Natural plant fibres and sustainable development	2,425	85%Compare
2022	A/RES/76/223	Natural plant fibres and sustainable development	2,131	71%Compare
2020	A/RES/74/240	Natural plant fibres and sustainable development	1,549	–

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Entity	(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
	Subprogramme 7	Forests and the forest industry	14

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Entity	(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
	Subprogramme 7	Forests and the forest industry	14	—

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

What subjects does this mandate have?

2 subjects

Natural Fibres Sustainable Development

What’s in this document?

21 operative paragraphs

Invites all relevant stakeholders to scale up efforts to promote awareness of the benefits of the sustainable production, consumption and use of natural plant fibres;

Underlines the importance of unlocking the benefits of natural plant fibres, and encourages all stakeholders to promote the sustainable production, consumption and use of natural plant fibres in all relevant areas and sectors;

Recognizes that the production, processing, application and proper management and export of natural plant fibres may well have the potential to be advantageous to the economies of many developing countries and the livelihoods of millions of small-scale farmers and low-wage workers, and in this regard calls upon Member States to take effective measures, as appropriate, to help to integrate small-scale holders into global production, value and supply chains for the sustainable production, consumption and use of natural plant fibres;

Stresses that the sustainable production, consumption and use of natural plant fibres may contribute to broader efforts towards the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as of outcome documents of other related major United Nations conferences and summits and multilateral environmental agreements including the Paris Agreement, and the achievement of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its four goals and 23 targets, particularly target 10;¹³

¹³See United Nations Environment Programme, document UNEP/CBD/COP/10/27, annex, decision X/2.

Encourages Member States:

To foster political support, the mobilization of resources, capacity-building and proper management and momentum for the sustainable production, consumption and use of natural plant fibres at the global, regional, national and local levels, as appropriate;

To promote and support the full and effective participation of relevant stakeholders, in particular Indigenous Peoples and local communities, in the decision-making process regarding the production of natural plant fibres;

To promote and support measures to ensure that the production of natural plant fibres is consistent with the conservation of natural forests and biological diversity and does not lead to the conversion of natural forests or overexploitation of natural resources, including water;

To consider mainstreaming the promotion of the sustainable production, consumption and use of natural plant fibres into policies and plans and current national development priorities, as appropriate, and address challenges, including environmental degradation and the adverse impacts of climate change;

To develop and implement policies and plans to incentivize the sustainable production, consumption and use of natural plant fibres and to promote the identification and development of environmentally friendly alternatives to single-use plastic products, taking into account the full life cycle implications of those alternatives, so as to reduce the utilization of single-use plastic, in line with national laws and priorities, as appropriate;

To build on and reinforce existing initiatives in order to scale up the sustainable production, consumption and use of natural plant fibres, as appropriate;

To facilitate synergies among all stakeholders, including the private sector, civil society and academia, and a holistic view of how to promote international partnerships and achieve national priorities related to the promotion of the sustainable production, consumption and use of natural plant fibres, as appropriate;

To share information and best practices, in particular leveraging the platforms of South-South and triangular cooperation, regarding the multitude of innovative applications of natural plant fibres, with a view to promoting longer-term economic, social and environmental benefits for both producers and consumers;

To foster scientific research and development and cooperation at the national, regional and global levels, as appropriate, to support, in addition to traditional use, high-end, value-added and innovative use of natural plant fibres;

To preserve Indigenous knowledge and technologies associated with natural plant fibres, and scale up their sustainable production, consumption and use as appropriate;

Recalls that the natural fibre industry is one of the world’s oldest industries, generating millions of jobs and connecting remote producers to world markets, and the commitment to promoting a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization;

Invites the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to lead the efforts and work with other United Nations entities, including the United Nations Environment Programme, to scale up international efforts to promote the sustainable production, consumption and use of natural plant fibres, within their respective mandates and existing resources and through voluntary contributions, as appropriate;

Invites Governments, international and regional organizations, the private sector, the business community and academia to foster an effective and enduring international partnership in support of research and development and technical know-how to promote various applications of natural plant fibres, as appropriate;

Invites Governments, the United Nations system, international and regional organizations, the private sector and the business community, academia and civil society to incentivize and develop overarching projects to promote the sustainable production, consumption and use of natural plant fibres, including through the promotion of sustainable agricultural approaches, ecosystem-based approaches and other management and conservation approaches, in line with United Nations Environment Assembly resolution 5/5 integrating small-scale producers, with particular attention paid to family farmers, Indigenous Peoples, women and youth in the related value chains and leveraging South-South and triangular cooperation platforms, and to tackle the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on this sector, leaving no one behind, and ensuring its sustainable and resilient recovery;

Underlines the importance of stepped-up funding from all sources, including public and private, bilateral and multilateral, as well as alternative sources of finance, for sustainable, inclusive and resilient recovery in the sectors related to natural plant fibres, including through the promotion of strong and resilient value chains, strengthened rural financial markets and social protection systems, including with access for women, Indigenous Peoples and young people, and technology transfer on mutually agreed terms and conditions for developing and least developed countries;

Requests the Secretary-General, in close collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, as well as other relevant international organizations, to include a special section on natural plant fibres and sustainable development in the report of the Secretary-General on agriculture development, food security and nutrition to be submitted to the General Assembly at its eightieth session, and decides to include in the provisional agenda of its eightieth session, under the item entitled “Agriculture development, food security and nutrition”, the sub-item entitled “Natural plant fibres and sustainable development”.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

Table of contents

Who cites this mandate in the budget?