Blue foods provide essential nutrition for more than 3 billion people and livelihoods for more than 800 million around the world. Yet they are often neglected in food discussions. It is critically important that sustainable blue food systems are fully integrated into the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) agenda and into game-changing solutions.
“We wish to put a bright spotlight on the common ground of the UN Food Systems Summit and the UN Oceans Conference,” write Dr. Agnes Kalibata, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Food Systems Summit, and Ambassador Peter Thomson, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean.
The joint letter to leaders of the UNFSS process emphasizes connections among ocean and food systems. By recognizing that blue foods are already a “cornerstone of the food system,” leaders can “[mobilize] around blue foods as part of the commitments and action that move forward in the Summit process, through transformation pathways and multi-stakeholder coalitions of action.”
In addition to this statement of support, Dr. Kalibata and Ambassador Thomson reference research and policy insights from a Blue Food Assessment team brief entitled “Sustainable Blue Foods are Vital to Global Food Security.” The brief provides recommendations for strategies to further integrate blue foods into the UNFSS. Together, a holistic approach to global food security and ocean sustainability can drive solutions to priorities set out in Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water.
Read the joint letter from Special Envoys Dr. Kalibata and Ambassador Thomson >
Read the two-page policy brief by members of the Blue Food Assessment team >