Amid Rising Living Costs, Climate Change, Secretary-General Tells Second Food Systems Summit Stocktake ‘All Hands on Deck’ Needed to Create Healthy, Resilient Structure

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s opening remarks, as delivered, at the Member States’ briefing on the second Food Systems Summit Stocktake, in New York today:

It is a real pleasure to join our permanent representatives and welcome you all today.

As you all know transforming our food systems is essential to driving progress across the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and delivering for everyone, everywhere — sufficient, nutritious food — now and in the future, particularly as we go towards the five years to deliver on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

That is why, in 2021, the UN Secretary-General convened the UN Food Systems Summit.  This established the foundation for a new, integrated approach to food systems — placing food at the heart of our efforts to address poverty, zero hunger, inequality, climate change and biodiversity loss.  It has reshaped the global narrative, building an engine of transformation that recognizes food systems as a key lever to accelerate and reinforce SDG progress.

Building on this momentum, the first Summit Stocktake, hosted by the Government of Italy in 2023, reaffirmed strong political will among nations.  Countries pledged to increase the pace of their efforts towards sustainable, inclusive and resilient food systems transformation.

But, it also highlighted persistent gaps and challenges.  Among them, an urgent need to enhance public-private-community partnerships, and strengthen private sector engagement.

These crucial issues identified at the first stocktake, resulted in the UN Secretary-General’s Call to Action.  The Call identified six critical areas for concerted action, including: securing concessional finance, investments, budget support and debt restructuring.  It also emphasized addressing food security in crisis situations.

The proposed SDG Stimulus — of $500 billion a year — was recognized as a game-changer, offering fiscal space and resources, including through Special Drawing Rights rechannelling.  Finance was emphasized as a critical component of food systems transformation, along with support of our multilateral development banks in unlocking investments in this field.

Given the global context riddled with challenges of rising living costs, social inequalities, climate change and geopolitical tensions, we will need all hands on deck to reach food systems transformations with the impact to advance on the 2030 Agenda.

Now, in just over five months, Addis Ababa will host the second United Nations Food Systems Summit Stocktake.

We are grateful to the Government of Ethiopia for hosting this important event and for making our commitment to take the second stocktake to a developing country, a reality.  Worth noting also is its leadership and extensive work on its policy environment, infrastructure development and the production of food that engages small holder farmers across the country.  We are grateful to Italy, which has agreed to co-host, for its legacy and continued leadership and support to food systems transformation.  It is important that we see leadership and sustainability of that support at the country level.

The Stocktake will be different — it has to be — in response to many of the requests for us to have more focus and impact.

First, we will be reflecting on progress since 2023, with a report from the system, but also a shadow report from our stakeholders.  Second, we will be partnering to track commitments and outcomes through national food systems pathways to accelerate SDG implementation.  And third, unlocking investments to sustain and scale transformative initiatives aligned with the SDGs.

In preparations for the Stocktake, we are committed to an inclusive, cross-sectoral efforts and consultations.  We will hold a second briefing in Nairobi next week engaging UN headquarters in Nairobi, Rome and Geneva.  In addition, we will hold five regional briefings, on the margins of the United Nations Regional Forums on Sustainable Development, from March to May.

We will also be engaging all our resident coordinators in UN country teams, at the country level so that they are fully engaged with our Member States in bringing to Addis Ababa the progress, and of course, the challenges and opportunities.

At the same time, we will push progress towards food systems transformation, including through important gatherings this year — the fourth Financing for Development Conference in Spain, thirtieth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30) in Brazil, the second World Summit on Social Development in Qatar and the third United Nations Ocean Conference in France.

These are all critical platforms to drive progress, harness collective action and create new investment opportunities.

As Member States, you are at the forefront of this transformation.  Your leadership and coordination will be instrumental in ensuring that the Stocktake inspires real action at the national level.  The United Nations is with you — committed to creating sustainable, inclusive, healthy and resilient food systems everywhere, across all our regions, reaching everyone.

We thank you for this important opportunity that will help us to shape the Stocktake in Addis Ababa in July.