The UN has announced the leaders of five action tracks leading to the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit. The aim of the Summit is to employ a food systems approach to advancing the SDGs. 

According to the Summit organizers’ announcement on 16 September 2020, the tracks will operate in a multi-stakeholder inclusive manner, and several chairs and vice-chairs are drawn from outside the UN system to reflect this approach. For example, the action track on sustainable consumption and production is chaired by Gunhild Stordalen, EAT Foundation. The action track on equitable livelihoods is vice-chaired by Mai Thin Yu Mon, UN Global Indigenous Youth Caucus and Chin Human Rights Organization. Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Club of Rome, is a vice-chair for the action track on building resilience. The other action tracks are: ensuring access to safe and nutritious food for all; and boosting nature-positive production at scale.

The aim of the tracks is to:

• Address synergies as well as possible trade-offs with other tracks;
• Identify bold new actions, innovative solutions, and strategies that can deliver wide-reaching benefits across all of the SDGs; 
• Create solutions at local, national, regional, and global levels; and
• Scale up and to accelerate existing initiatives.

Each track has a “UN anchoring agency” for technical assistance and linkages to the UN system’s expertise. Governments can express interest in engaging with a track before 30 September.

Details on preparations for the Summit and its objectives were provided at a 4 September briefing convened by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed. She said the Summit is considered a “foundational element” of the Decade of Action to deliver the SDGs by 2030. The 2019 Global Sustainable Development Report found that food systems and nutrition are key entry points for getting the world on a more sustainable trajectory. [Announcement of action track leaders] [Summit website]