Summit Vision

The need is urgent, and our ambition is high. The UN Food Systems Summit will launch bold new actions, solutions and strategies to deliver progress on all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), each of which relies on healthier, more sustainable and more equitable food systems. The Summit will awaken the world to the fact that we all must work together to transform the way the world produces, consumes and thinks about food.

The Summit will result in:

  • Dramatically elevated public discourse about the importance of food systems leading to the achievement of the SDGs and what to do to get the public working for people and planet.
  • Significant action, with measurable outcomes that enable achievement of the 2030 goals. This will include highlighting existing solutions and celebrating leaders in food systems transformation, as well as calling for new actions worldwide by different actors, including countries, cities, communities, companies, civil society, citizens and food producers.
  • A high-level set of principles established through the process that will guide Member States and other stakeholders to leverage their food systems capacity to support the SDGs. Distilled through all elements of the preparatory process, these principles will set an optimistic and encouraging vision in which food systems play a central role in delivering on the vision of the 2030 Agenda.
  • A system of follow-up and review that will drive new actions and results; allow for sharing of experiences, lessons and knowledge; and incorporate new metrics for impact analysis.

 

Principles of Engagement

The Food Systems Summit is guided by a set of seven principles of engagement, listed below. Underpinning each of these principles is the Summit’s vision of an equitable and healthy future for all, and one that gives voice to citizens in every country of the world. Everyone is invited to become a Food Systems Hero, host a Food Systems Dialogue, spread the word about food systems transformation, or find another way to support the Summit process. The Summit is open to all, and it belongs to us all. It is ours to create; we must define and build a strong food system, together. What does a strong food system mean?

The Summit is open to all, and it belongs to us all. It is ours to create; we must define and build a strong food system, together.

What does a strong food system mean?

  1. Act with urgency:

    We recognise the utmost urgency of sustained and meaningful action at all levels to reach the respective 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

  2. Commit to the Summit:

    We commit to practice what we preach personally and professionally to contribute to the vision, objectives and the final outcomes of the Food Systems Summit.

  3. Be respectful:

    Within our respective capacities and circumstances, we will promote food production and consumption policies and practices that strive to protect and improve the health and well-being of individuals, enhance resilient livelihoods and communities and promote good stewardship of natural resources, while respecting local cultures, contexts.

  4. Recognise complexity:

    We recognize that food systems are complex, and are closely connected to, and significantly impact, human and animal health, land, water, climate, biodiversity, the economy and other systems, and their transformation requires a systemic approach.

  5. Embrace multi-stakeholder inclusivity:

    We support inclusive multi-stakeholder processes and approaches within governments and communities that bring in diverse perspectives, including indigenous knowledge, cultural insights and science-based evidence to enable stakeholders to understand and assess potential trade-offs and to design policy options that deliver against multiple public goods across these various systems.

  6. Complement the work of others:

    Recognizing that issues related to food systems are being addressed through several other global governance processes, we will seek to ensure that the Food Systems Summit aligns with, amplifies and accelerates these efforts where practicable, avoiding unnecessary duplication, while encouraging bold and innovative new thinking and approaches that deliver systems-level transformation in line with the Summit’s principles and objectives.

  7. Build trust:

    We will work to ensure the Summit and associated engagement process will promote trust and increase motivation to participate by being evidence-based, transparent and accessible in governance, decision-making, planning, engagement and implementation. We – from member states to private businesses to individual actors – will hold ourselves accountable for commitments made with mechanisms in place to uphold this accountability.