Sustainable food systems in spotlight at High-level Political Forum in New York
Bern, 08.07.2024 - Where does the international community stand in the fight against poverty and hunger? This year's High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development at the UN in New York will scrutinise the progress made towards implementing these two goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Switzerland is calling for the inclusion of a new indicator to measure food diversity, thereby strengthening food systems.
Switzerland participates in the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) from 8 to 17 July 2024 to help assess the progress made in implementing the 2030 Agenda at global level. According to UN agencies, around 735 million people currently suffer from chronic hunger. Around three billion people cannot afford a healthy diet. Establishing sustainable food systems in which all actors along the food value chain fulfil their responsibilities is a task for society as a whole. It also has a positive impact on all the Sustainable Development Goals: the way the world's population feeds itself has an influence on both environmental sustainability and human health.
At an event organised jointly with Costa Rica, Malawi, the FAO and the NGO Scaling Up Nutrition, Switzerland will explore how healthy nutrition, based on sustainable food systems, can be measured and strengthened. An indicator of food diversity developed by the FAO and UNICEF will be presented. Switzerland, together with other states, is proposing that this indicator be used to measure the Sustainable Development Goals at the global level.
The topics discussed at this year's HLPF are high on the agenda of the UN Secretary General's Summit of the Future, which will take place in New York on 22 and 23 September. The results of the HLPF, which will be set out in a ministerial letter of intent, will point the way forward for this next international milestone. The transformation towards sustainable food systems around the world is an important issue for Switzerland.
Buttressing the fight against poverty
In addition to the fight against hunger, the fight against poverty is also at the heart of this year's HLPF. In its latest report on the SDGs, the UN expects that, if current trends continue, 575 million people will still be living in extreme poverty in 2030. In Switzerland too, around 700,000 people are affected by poverty, which is 8.2% of the resident population. In order to improve measures to prevent and combat poverty, the federal government is working with cantons, communes and civil society organisations through the National Platform Against Poverty. With the platform concluding its work in December this year, the Federal Council is looking at how to make its activities more effective, with a decision on the next steps awaited at the end of the year.
Greater efforts needed in Switzerland too
The 2030 Agenda is under pressure worldwide: it is becoming clear that at the current rate of implementation, only around 15% of the Sustainable Development Goals will be achieved. In Switzerland too, despite a good baseline and various advances, there are substantial gaps in implementation. Markus Reubi, head of the Swiss delegation at the HLPF, therefore believes that further efforts are needed: "We still have a good six years to get much further towards achieving the ambitious goals together. To do this, all stakeholders – not only the states, but also the cantons and communes, as well as the business world, academia and civil society – must pull together in the same direction."
Markus Reubi, FDFA Delegate of the Federal Council for the 2030 Agenda, leads the Swiss delegation. The delegation also includes the Federal Council's DETEC delegate for the 2030 Agenda, Daniel Dubas, as well as representatives of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO) and the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), and civil society (Caritas).
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