Nutrition at the 2016 World Economic Forum in Davos

From 20 – 23 January 2016, the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) was held in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. The WEF acts as a creative force to engage world leaders in collaborative activities focused on shaping the global, regional and industry agendas. A number of activities at WEF have the potential to contribute to efforts towards improving nutrition, these include the launch of Champions 12.3, the 2016 launch of The Access to Nutrition Index and an event to scale up public private partnerships.

Champions 12.3

Champions 12.3 is a high-profile global campaign, to halve the amount of food wasted on the journey between farm and plate. The aim of Champions 12.3 is to build political momentum towards sustainable development goal 12.3: To halve per capita global food waste levels and reduce food losses by 2030.

“Reducing food loss and waste is a significant global challenge and it’s very important that business plays its part… This is an opportunity for businesses to work together and make a real difference to target 12.3.” – Dave Lewis, Group Chief Executive of Tesco and chair of Champions 12.3.

The coalition consists of 30 leaders from Chief Executive Officers of major companies, government ministers, and executives of research and intergovernmental institutions, foundations, farmer organizations, and civil society groups. These leaders will work to create political, business and social momentum to reduce food loss and waste around the world. Paul Polman, Chief Executive Officer of Unilever, was announced as one of the 30 champions and is also a member of the SUN Movement Lead Group. View the list. Learn more at Champions123.org >

2016 Access to Nutrition Index

The 2016 Access to Nutrition Index (ATNI) was launched at an event which discussed where progress has been made and where gaps remain since the 2013 Global Index was published. The ATNI rates and benchmarks food and beverage manufacturers on the basis of their commitments, performance and disclosure practices related to tackling obesity and undernutrition worldwide. Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director, World Food Programme and member of the SUN Movement Lead Group was a panelist with Fokko Wientjes, Vice-President, Sustainability and Public-Private Partnerships at DSM and member of the SUN Movement Executive Committee. The panel was moderated by Marc Van Ameringen, Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, who is also a member of the SUN Movement Executive Committee. View the 2016 Access to Nutrition Index.

Scaling up public-private partnerships

Global leaders met with United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, to explore opportunities for the United Nations to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through public-private partnerships. The event titled “Making Public-Private Partnerships Work for the Sustainable Development Goals: The United Nations as a Catalyst for Innovation”, was co-chaired by David Nabarro, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Lise Kingo, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact.

The UN Secretary-General called on business leaders to work across sectors and industries and highlighted the need to engage more responsible businesses to take action on the SDGs.

“Doing business responsibly is the first step for any company that wants to contribute to sustainability.” – Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General.

Learn more about the event at unglobalcompact.org