Deputy Secretary-General’s remarks to the media after meeting with Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy, Luigi Di Maio
Rome, 23 July 2021
Thank you very much. It has been a real pleasure and I want to thank the honorable minister here for his warm welcome and that of the colleagues of the Government of Italy. It has been a real pleasure to arrive for a very important Pre-Summit on the Food Systems.
But let me first begin by really commending and congratulating Italy’s leadership at the G20 and for COP26, both of which are interrelated. Particularly at the G20, this has been a very difficult time for the world, coming out of COVID, and still not there yet.
We are very happy to see that the Matera Declaration, that we found in the last few days, has been one that has brought more hope to the agenda for financing and resolving some of the most pressing issues that the world has to adhere to on the recovery from the crisis. We are pleased to see that there are many other issues that have been taken up during the G20 and I think that this has been a G20 presidency that has been the most broad and extensive in taking more than just a finance challenge, but relating it to many of the aspects of the 2030 Agenda, and we do appreciate that.
The COP26 agenda is equally important and you have paid a lot of attention to the climate finance, and how we will bridge the gaps that are expected from the Paris Declaration, and so the momentum of your leadership in the G20, I believe augurs well for the COP26, at Glasgow.
The Pre-Summit for Food, of course Food Systems, is integral to the success of the 2030 Agenda. The Secretary-General convening this meeting and having the Pre-Summit here in Rome is an important demonstration of Italy’s commitment to multilateralism. Italy’s commitment to an incredibly important aspect of human development and the health of our planet. In bringing these together in a food systems dialogue that should, and we hope, produce in the next three days, a response that is urgent, that needs to be done at scale around the world to achieve the SDGs in the next 10 years.
The Summit itself, is benefiting from a process that started in July 2019. So Italy has been accompanying this Summit for a very long time. We believe that the results that we see in the next three days will come to fruition. The private sector, indigenous people, NGOs, governments around the world have led the shaping of this Agenda around many tracks and many dialogues. National dialogues that have taken place in 143 countries. That will come to fruition at this meeting over the next three days and we hope that we can take out of this meeting a sense of the new way that we need to transform our food systems, given we have an opportunity to recover from COVID differently.
So we look forward to that engagement with Ministers, with different constituencies in addressing the Food Systems.
Italy of course has been leading in those discourses around many issues, and in particular we underscore the value of the Mediterranean diet, that has been something that has inspired many, particularly our youth. Young people, for a long time, I think have been disillusioned about the sector for food, the sector for education, but this has been something that has inspired them. And I think that with the use of technology, more science and evidence based, shows you where investments need to be made, and we stand a good chance here of insuring here that young people are a central part of what happens in the future in the food systems.
So, we look very much forward to the really, I would say, the real substance of the issues that must be agreed here, to be taken to New York, where they would be endorsed by heads of States and Government. And then, perhaps lastly, that they come back to Rome. And when we come back with the recommendations that are endorsed, that we then begin the hard work of implementing these recommendations with the support of the Agencies that you have hosted for so long here, in Rome. In our countries, 193 countries, everyone is engaged, and we are very excited about it, and pleased to have you hosted. Thank you.