Debate: EU contribution to transforming global food systems to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals
Date: WEDNESDAY, 15 SEPTEMBER 2021
Speaker: Nicolas Schmit
Language: EN

We are all aware of the global community’s commitments to make the world a better place, with good opportunities for everybody, and especially to make the right for decent food real for everybody. This should be guided by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, yet I cannot help but stress that in 2021 we still have a long way to go to meet our targets. Allow me to focus on Sustainable Development Goal Number two: ending hunger.  The most recent reports are extremely worrisome. Ten per cent of the global population suffers from undernourishment. Nearly one in three people in the world did not have access to adequate food in 2020, with an increase of 320 million people in just one year. More and more people are thrown into food crisis, more and more children stunted and wasted. Conflict, economic shocks and weather extremes remain the main drivers of hunger.  This is unacceptable because we have both the means and the technology to eradicate hunger. This is unacceptable. So in Europe we are slowly but steadily starting to recover from the COVID—19 pandemic. We have committed to build back better, and this starts first and foremost with our agrifood system. As part of the European Green Deal we unveiled our Farm to Fork strategy. It aims to make our food systems fair, healthy and environmentally friendly. But we cannot act alone. The COVID—19 pandemic has demonstrated that we are all interconnected. The shift to sustainable food systems needs to be global. 2021 has been coined the super year for nature in multilateral circles. This is the year of the climate COP26, the biodiversity COP15 and the High—Level Dialogue on Energy. It is also the year of the vitally important United Nations Secretary-General’s Food System Summit and the Nutrition for Growth Summit that will follow at the end of this year.  The EU has been active in the preparation of both summits, and we look forward to both their outcomes. As outlined in the Council conclusions adopted in May we are committed to achieving an ambitious outcome at the summit with our partner countries. We are already active in Africa. Agriculture ministers of the EU and the African Union met in June to discuss partnerships for sustainable agriculture and food systems, and we are working with our partners on sustainable land management. As announced by President von der Leyen, the EU has committed EUR 700 million of investment per year for Great Green Wall related investments. I can also mention our work in the Global Network Against Food Crises, which seeks to prevent the next food crisis. This is done in full collaboration with partners such as the United States and regional organisations.  Our DeSIRA Programme on Agriculture Research for Development supports agro—ecology and research and innovation programmes in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Finally, the Nutrition for Growth Summit in Tokyo in December will also be an important multilateral event. We need to maintain momentum on this important topic and ensure the summit will be a real turning point in the fight against malnutrition. Madam President, honourable Members, thank you for inviting me, for inviting the Commission, to this debate, and I look forward to hearing your insights on this really very important question.