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UN Food Systems Summit 2021

We are partnering with the UN Food Systems Summit 2021 to build a global food system that benefits all. Explore how EIT Food is supporting the UNFSS.

2021

The current state of the food system is a leading cause of some of the biggest challenges that our world is facing, from climate change, pollution and waste, to malnutrition, disease and obesity.

Food systems challenges are complex and no country or organisation will be able to solve them alone.

We have just eight years left (until 2030) to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and we have to move together towards these goals, leaving no one behind.

What is the UN Food Systems Summit 2021?

The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, will convene a Food Systems Summit on 23 September 2021 as part of the Decade of Action to achieve the SDGs by 2030. The Summit will launch bold new actions to deliver progress on all 17 SDGs, each of which relies to some degree on healthier, more sustainable and equitable food systems.

Find out more about the UNFSS Action Areas here.

What is EIT Food’s role at the UNFSS?

Supported by the EU, EIT Food leads Europe’s largest and most dynamic food innovation community. We accelerate innovation to build a future-fit food system that produces healthy and sustainable food for all.​ We are excited to collaborate with the UNFSS to accelerate achievement of the SDGs in this Decade of Action to deliver game-changing solutions that transform the food system, from farm to fork. 

Collaborating with our industry, retail, research, civil society and policy partners, we are launching the most comprehensive and scientifically-sound environmental food labelling initiative, Enviroscore, as part of the UNFSS drive for game-changing solutions. After three years of collaboration on data collection, life cycle analysis methodology development, design, consumer co-creation and insights, our eco-impact score will provide much needed information to consumers to increase their awareness about the environmental impact of the food that they consume. 

Our community of experts are also leading initiatives that:

Pre-Summit affiliated sessions

From 26-28 July 2021, the Government of Italy hosted the UN Food Systems Summit Pre-Summit. The event served as the preparatory meeting for the Food Systems Summit in September by consolidating all the substantive work of the Summit into a common vision and setting a tone of bold ambition and commitment to action.

EIT Food led two affiliated sessions at the UNFSS Pre-Summit on 26 July 2021. The event brought together youth, farmers, indigenous peoples, civil society, researchers, the private sector, policy leaders and ministers of agriculture, environment, health, nutrition and finance, among other players. 

The three-day gathering aimed to deliver the latest evidence-based and scientific approaches from around the world, launched a set of new commitments through coalitions of action and mobilised new financing and partnerships.

EIT Food led the following sessions:

  • Monday 26 July 13:30-14:20 CET: Accelerating Innovation for Food Systems Transformation with National and Regional Impact. This session identified solutions and initiatives which have the potential to transform food systems and also highlight the co-benefits that food systems innovation could unlock for people, planet and prosperity across the globe and for the achievement of SDGs. Furthermore, this session set the pace for the achievement of these benefits within the decade of action and outline how regional and national innovation ecosystems and innovation hubs could serve as agents of accelerated change.
    FIND OUT MORE HERE
     
  • Monday 26 July 19:30-20:20 CET: Coalition for Carbon+ Farming Journey: European Green Deal in Action. Launched in 2021, the ‘Carbon+ Farming Journey’ coalition is a multi-stakeholder partnership developed to enact the European Green Deal’s Farm to Fork strategy. Following a call to action from Frans Timmermans, the coalition has designed a farmer-centric approach, with partners focused on the uptake of regenerative and climate-smart agriculture practices in Europe by identifying the roadblocks to adoption and co-designing solutions with economic, practical and ecological benefits to farmers. It will also work to develop financial tools to empower farmers in managing transition risk and recommend the right set of farmer incentives. It forms a regional part of the larger platform for action, 100 Million Farmers: Transitioning Towards Net-Zero, Nature-Positive Food Systems. This session was designed to share the action-oriented approach of the coalition and emerging outcomes.
    FIND OUT MORE HERE 

Find out more about the Pre-Summit here.

How you can support the UNFSS ambitious goals

  • As an agrifood entrepreneur developing people-centric and systemic innovations, find out how you can get involved here
  • As part of the future generation of food entrepreneurs, find out how you can get involved through our work in schools and universities here.
  • If you share the vision of the UN Food Systems Summit, you can become a food systems hero to learn, share, gather and act for food systems transformation. Find out more here.
  • Join the conversation on social media by using #FutureFoodMakers and tagging EIT Food on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Download the EIT Food UNFSS toolkit to find pre-drafted social media copy and social media assets.
  • As a medical student, doctor or professional, you can take part in our online course on nutrition and nutrition interventions. The course has been produced by the University of Reading, the University of Torino, the University of Hohenheim, the University of Groningen, IMDEA Food Institute and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), in collaboration with experts from Harvard University and the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA). Composed of 12 hours of learning broken down in three weeks, learners can study at their own pace, at any time, on any device. By giving medical professionals better knowledge of the link between food, health, nutrition and sustainability, EIT Food aims to support them to play an active role in transforming our food system and overcome one of the food system’s key challenges. Find out more here and register here.

 

Collaborate with us to make the Food Systems Summit a success. Get Involved here. 

Collaborate with us to achieve the SDGs by 2030. Get Involved here. 

 

Download the EIT Food UNFSS toolkit

This digital toolkit has been designed to help you understand EIT Food’s involvement with the UN Food Systems Summit in 2021. Use it to increase awareness, join conversations and help accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in this Decade of Action. In this toolkit you can find pre-drafted social media copy and social media assets. Download the toolkit below:

 

Project lead

Barbaros
Barbaros Corekoglu

Project Lead