Food systems are essential to human survival: Everyone must eat. Food and the supporting resources and systems that allow its production and delivery to your plate – and even where your leftovers go – affect every person on earth and speaks to the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Food systems impact human health, the climate, the environment, and social welfare, but currently, many food systems are unsustainable, and do not guarantee food security and nutrition for all.

This event will showcase the potential of food systems as sustainable transformative pathways to accelerate progress toward the SDGs and climate action. The event is convened by Ireland, Malawi, the Kingdom of Norway, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The format of the event provides an opportunity for leaders from governments, civil society, private sector, and the UN System to share initiatives and efforts underway to transition our food systems along sustainable pathways. The event will particularly highlight the importance of identifying trade-offs of different policy actions in order to shift incentives, and ultimately to change behavior in a way that will build more sustainable food systems, and the potential synergies of food systems to multiply progress across the 2030 Agenda. As we enter the decade of action and delivery of the Agenda, the principle outcome of the event is to call all stakeholders to take action and understand the urgency of transforming food systems.

Photo credit: UN Photo/Rick Bajornas