Conclusions and recommendations

International cooperation

International cooperation is critical to the success of countries in adapting pest-management strategies to climate change. This is because effective management by one farmer or one country affects the success of others, as pests do not respect borders. International cooperation may be global or regional. A proposed new global surveillance system for crop disease, for example, will integrate across diagnostic networks, data management networks, risk assessment networks, and communication networks (Carvajal-Yepes et al., 2019).

Establishment of a mechanism for global phytosanitary research coordination, as suggested in the IPPC Strategic Framework 2020–2030 (FAO, 2021b), could increase scientific collaboration, enhance coordination of effort, optimize the use of resources and facilitate alignment of goals. By so doing it could not only help to advance the science, but also strengthen the scientific foundations of international efforts to assess and manage the impact of climate change on plant health, thereby helping to protect agriculture, the environment and trade activities from pests.

At a regional level, scenario analysis of potential responses to climate change can help to inform strategies for adaptation of regional disease management (Garrett et al., 2018). However, although many national and regional plant protection organizations work to monitor and contain outbreaks of crop pests, many countries do not efficiently exchange information, thereby delaying coordinated responses to prevent disease establishment and spread. Support for capacity building in these countries should therefore form an essential component of international cooperation. With the support of international organizations, global forums for information sharing could be extremely useful. The experience currently gained in the organization of on-line meetings throughout the COVID-19 pandemic will help in fostering long-distance contacts and interactions, with a significant saving of time and money.