SFS-MED Common Ground Paper - SFS-MED Platform

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WORKING DRAFT 3 August 2020 THE SFS-MED PLATFORM A MULTI-STAKEHOLDER INITIATIVE FOR SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION COMMON GROUND PAPER WORKING DRAFT 3 August 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The SFS-MED Platform is a multi-stakeholder initiative for sustainable food systems in the Mediterranean, currently being established as a collaborative effort by the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfMS). This initiative is an affiliated project of the UN One Planet Network Sustainable Food Systems Programme1, and aims at accelerating progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the Mediterranean region. Context The Mediterranean region is facing unprecedented and interdependent environmental, economic and social challenges that affect food security, nutrition and sustainability, and thus the livelihoods of all Mediterranean people. Rationale The SFS-MED Platform, currently under development by the co-leads Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM2) and Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), aims to promote a context-specific integrated sustainable food systems approach as an innovative, multi-sectorial, and science-based response to the multiple and interconnected challenges the Mediterranean countries are facing. The Platform will operate under the overarching umbrella of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), contributing to accelerate progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the region, as part of the UN Decade of Action for the SDGs. Also in light of the new challenge posed by the ongoing and unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, which is putting a strain on food supply chains, the SFS-MED Platform is foreseen to stimulate and foster interregional dialogue on both shores of the Mediterranean to redesign the future of tomorrow’s food systems, and to trigger collective, multi-stakeholder actions for the transformation of food systems. Global commitment for a shift towards more sustainable food systems has increased significantly in the international community over the recent years, as part of the collective efforts for achieving the ambitious goals of the 2030 Agenda. In this context, the SFS-MED Platform, conceived as a collaborative, multi-stakeholder endeavour, offers the unique opportunity to bring together different mandates for mobilizing stronger partnerships towards more resilient sustainable food systems in the Mediterranean. Sustainable food systems are also among the key elements of the European Green Deal, which cannot be achieved without addressing the issue of food sustainability, as stressed in the EU Farm to Fork Strategy. In this regard, it is paramount to safeguard the position of farmers and fishers in the value chain, to promote “green” and “blue” growth, as well as circular economy, and to encourage sustainable food production and consumption, ensuring affordable and healthy food for all. Moreover, food systems worldwide are becoming increasingly interconnected, through global, regional and local markets and supply chains. One of the expected results of the Platform is to identify the interlinkages between the SDGs, development challenges, drivers, processes, outcomes and trade-offs and how they can have a positive impact on every stage of food systems (production, processing, distribution, sale, consumption, including food losses and waste). Therefore, the SFS-MED Platform aims 1 https://www.oneplanetnetwork.org/sustainable-food-system 2 Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes i WORKING DRAFT 3 August 2020 at fostering a better understanding of the interconnections between individual SDGs and how the multidimensionality of the sustainability of food systems will strengthen the science-policy nexus, as well as South-South cooperation initiatives. The Platform will respond to regional and national needs, priorities and circumstances, by taking into account the multi-dimensional nature of food systems, especially for the different cultural dimensions of the Mediterranean food systems on both the Northern and the Southern/Eastern shore. To develop more sustainable food systems, new forms of collaborative and innovative multi-stakeholder strategies, transdisciplinary exchanges and knowledge-sharing are required between the shores of the Mediterranean. Operationalization Through a 10-year work-plan (2020-2030), aligned with the Decade of Action for the SDGs, the Platform will strengthen collaborative regional efforts through the active involvement of all interested stakeholders (i.e.: government agencies, United Nations agencies, intergovernmental organizations, multilateral agencies, universities and research institutions, civil society organizations, and private sector entities). The operationalization of the Platform is foreseen within the framework of the United Nations One Planet Network’s Sustainable Food Systems Programme, to provide with its first biennial work plan (2020-2021) a major contribution to the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit. By drawing maximum benefit from this critical mass of added comparative advantages, a joint, collaborative resource mobilization effort will allow the SFS-MED Platform to be more competitive in intercepting funds from a broad variety of public and private sources. Attracting donors and stakeholders will contribute to the expected outcome of accelerating the 2030 Agenda, by linking sustainable consumption and production (SCP), through the Mediterranean diet as a healthy and sustainable lever. The “SFS-MED Flagship projects”, developed in collaboration with interested stakeholders, are foreseen to be the Platform’s building blocks, to be scaled up through the joint resource mobilization plan. The Platform will foster the creation of an active, interregional multi-stakeholder community of practice, connecting existing SFS and SCP networks to strengthen their action in the Mediterranean region. The development of this community of practice will contribute to avoid duplications and to provide more validated data for the co-development of collaborative trans-sectoral transformative actions on food systems in the Mediterranean towards the achievement of the SDGs, leaving no one behind. ii 1. INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND In May 2019, as outcome of the 2nd World Conference on the Revitalization of the Mediterranean Diet on “Strategies towards More Sustainable Food Systems in the Mediterranean Region - The Mediterranean Diet as a Lever Bridging Consumption and Production in a Sustainable and Healthy Way”, held in Palermo, Italy from 15 to 17 May 20191, as an affiliated project of the United Nations One Planet Network Sustainable Food Systems Programme2, CIHEAM, FAO and UfM expressed their interest to develop a joint proposal, as a collaborative effort, for the establishment of a Multi-stakeholder Sustainable Food Systems (SFS) Platform in the Mediterranean, to be defined in its operational inclusive format, for a broader participation and engagement of all interested stakeholders. In July 2019, in the renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between FAO and CIHEAM, the development of a multi-stakeholder sustainable food systems platform in the Mediterranean, within the framework of the United Nations One Planet Network SFS Programme, was included in the MoU workplan. Since 2011, FAO and CIHEAM have identified the Mediterranean diet as a joint case study for characterization and assessment of the sustainability of food consumption patterns and diets in the Mediterranean region. In 2016, FAO and CIHEAM started to collaborate towards a joint proposal for a multi-stakeholder sustainable food systems platform in the Mediterranean within the UN One Planet Network SFS Programme. In 2017, under the UN One Planet Network SFS Programme, at CIHEAM-Bari, an FAO/CIHEAM International Workshop “Development of Voluntary Guidelines for the Sustainability of the Mediterranean Diet in the Mediterranean region” was held with a twofold purpose: 1) To produce a discussion paper on “Development of voluntary guidelines for the sustainability of the Mediterranean diet in the Mediterranean region”; 2) To finalize the proposal for the development of a “Mediterranean Multi-stakeholder Platform on Sustainable Food Systems”, within the UN One Planet Network SFS Programme. RATIONALE The global commitment of the international community for a shift towards more sustainable food systems, such as the United Nations One Planet Network SFS Programme, has increased significantly 1 The Conference was organized by CIHEAM-Bari and the Forum on Mediterranean Food Cultures, with the technical support of FAO, under the auspices of CIHEAM, UfMS, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Forestry and Tourism, the Italian Ministry of Health, the Sicilian Region, the City of Palermo, IFMeD (International Foundation of the Mediterranean Diet), FENS (Federation of European Nutrition Societies). It was made in collaboration with CNR, CREA, ENEA, ICAF (International Commission on Food Anthropology), ICARDA, SINU, SFN, SENC, Society for Nutrition Education and Behaviour, CMI (Center for Mediterranean Integration), and many other international and national institutions. (http://www.iamb.ciheam.org/en/news_and_events/one?event=summary-report-of-the-2nd-world- conference-on-the-revitalization-of-mediterranean-diet-on-strategies-towards-more-sustainable-food-systems-in-the- mediterranean-region&id=345) 2 https://www.oneplanetnetwork.org/sustainable-food-system 1 WORKING DRAFT 3 August 2020 over recent years, with numerous UN and Ministerial Declarations, international reports and scientific articles supporting this transformational change. Today it is clear that COVID-19 will have a global impact on the world economy, environment, culture and health and more sustainable food systems will be vital for all populations of the world. For these reasons transformational change in food systems is further needed to accelerate more sustainable development in the Mediterranean region, fostered by the 2030 Agenda. Increasing water scarcity, land and marine resource degradation, climate change and nutrition transition, together with youth and women unemployment, demographic shifts towards increased urbanization, vulnerability of rural livelihoods, conflicts and migration require urgent action, while taking into account the widely differing cultural dimensions across the region. To develop more sustainable food systems, new forms of innovative, interregional multi-stakeholder strategies and transdisciplinary knowledge sharing are required between the Northern and the Southern shores of the Mediterranean region, where there is, also due to COVID-19 a stronger need of more scientific research and data for impact assessment, as well as capacity building and innovation, both technological, institutional and social. The underpinning rationale of this collaborative initiative in the Mediterranean is based on the assumptions that: i. Environmental, economic, socio-cultural, health and nutritional challenges facing the Mediterranean are interlinked and must be addressed through an integrated SFS systemic approach, supported by inclusive multi stakeholder collaborative partnerships. ii. Adopting a sustainable food systems approach will lead to improved food security, better nutrition and more sustainable use of natural resources in the Mediterranean countries on both shores, as well as improved health, employment and inclusive growth opportunities; and iii. Sustainable food consumption will foster sustainable food production in the Mediterranean region by enhancing the Mediterranean diet as a lever for bridging sustainable consumption and production (SCP). The proposed multi-stakeholder SFS Platform for the Mediterranean region is expected to foster more collaborative interregional partnerships and innovative inter-sectorial efforts, to address interconnected challenges facing the region as they impact on food production, nutrition and resource management as well as to reverse current unsustainable trends and dietary shifts faced today by Mediterranean populations. This will include efforts through research, innovation, development of employable skills and knowledge, and concrete actions on the ground, for eliminating malnutrition in all its forms while reducing environmental threat, increasing resilience to face climate change while ensuring economic and social sustainability. Such an effort should be conducive to improving employment, social inclusion and driving more sustainable development in the entire region. Sustainable food systems are also key elements for promoting green and blue growth as well as circular economy, on both shores of the Mediterranean region, by building innovation-approaches and improving well-being and social equity, while lessening environmental risks and ecological scarcities. In recent days, due to COVID-19, there is a stronger need have seen that is not on for a transition towards a green and blue economy. 2 WORKING DRAFT 3 August 2020 Sustainable food systems are also among the key elements of the European Green Deal, which cannot be achieved without addressing the issue of food sustainability, as stressed in the EU Farm to Fork Strategy. In this regard, it is paramount to safeguard the position of farmers and fishers in the value chain, to promote “green” and “blue” growth, as well as circular economy, and to encourage sustainable food consumption and ensure affordable and healthy food for all. A better understanding of the multidimensionality of the sustainability of food systems, as well as, interconnections between individual SDGs will also strengthen science-based dialogues between Northern and Eastern/Southern countries of the Mediterranean, reinforce the science-policy nexus and strengthen South-South cooperation, by jointly addressing current growing and interdependent challenges facing the Mediterranean region, in achieving the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda. As part of the efforts towards the 2030 Agenda, global commitment in the international community for a shift towards more sustainable food systems has increased significantly over recent years. The SFS MED Platform is foreseen to contribute, as an affiliated project of the United Nations One Planet Network SFS Programme to the objectives of the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit. 3 WORKING DRAFT 3 August 2020 2. THE CONTEXT OF THE MEDITERRANEAN More than before, the region is facing unprecedented and interdependent environmental, economic and social challenges that affect food security, health, nutrition and sustainability, and thus the livelihoods of all Mediterranean people. The Mediterranean is marked by the heterogeneity among, and within, its countries and a growing gap between the advanced economies in the Northern shores and the less developed ones in the Southern/Eastern ones. Population growth with demographic changes, urbanization and globalization, are all driving increased food demand and influencing food choices, which have resulted in profound changes in the food production/processing patterns, as well as in the food consumption patterns and lifestyles in the Mediterranean region. Table 1 Current challenges facing the Mediterranean Region 1. Environmental Challenges: Over-exploitation of natural resources and adverse impacts of environmental degradation by climate change, water scarcity, desertification and drought, land degradation, loss of biodiversity, fish stocks depletion, lack of good sustainable practices in agriculture and fisheries, urban sprawl, chemical contamination, marine pollution, marine invasive non-indigenous species. 2. Economic Challenges: Symmetrical shock of the economy due to the pandemic of COVID-19 and crisis of hundreds of thousands of agri-food SMEs, unequal economic drift between Northern and Southern-Eastern Mediterranean countries, population growth, increased demand for food, poverty and unemployment (especially among young people), conflict areas, food insecurity, migration from rural areas and other countries, urbanization, changing food procurement, predominance of imported food, internationalization of markets, low profitability for smallholders, lack of efficient rural sustainable development policies (particularly for women and youth, in connection to employability and careers) and incentives for ecosystem services, mismatch between education and job market, lack of innovation, food loss and waste. 3. Social and Cultural Challenges: Changes in Mediterranean societies and roles of women (cf. gender equality and inclusion), emerging new unsustainable globalized lifestyle behaviors, progressive urbanization, migration from rural areas and from other countries, erosion of food cultures and traditional knowledge, lack of social and cultural innovation. 4. Health and Nutritional Challenges: Malnutrition and nutrition transition (undernutrition, hidden hunger and obesity), unsustainable unhealthy dietary shifts, sedentary lifestyles and lack of physical activity, erosion of the Mediterranean diet heritage, food safety and food insecurity, growing public health expenditures, animal welfare, diffusion of new pandemic diseases. More sustainable food systems will offer new great economic and social opportunities in the Mediterranean region, driving more sustainable development, particularly for small scale farmers and fishermen, as well as for youth and women, in rural areas highly affected by rural migration to cities. Therefore, a common understanding of an integrated sustainable food systems approach and its trade- offs, Mediterranean context-specific, and co-developed through an inclusive multi-stakeholder collaborative effort, based on knowledge and partnership, is required for coping with the complexity of these multiple current intertwined challenges facing the Mediterranean region. 4 WORKING DRAFT 3 August 2020 3. BUILDING BLOCKS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SFS MED PLATFORM The Platform building blocks are foreseen to be the “flagship projects” of the participating stakeholders to be scaled up, within the SFS MED Platform context-specific approach, as SCP transformative actions for coping with priority challenges and accelerating the 2030 Agenda in the Mediterranean region. The “SFS-MED Flagship projects” will be innovative multi-sectorial actions on the ground, with assessable transformative sustainable impacts on multiple interdependent challenges, through the Platform sustainable food systems (SFS) approach, context-specific for the Mediterranean and people- centred, to accelerate the 2030 Agenda in the region. Such projects might be initiated with smaller- scale actions that can show the viability of the flagship projects, within an identified context-specific territorial or site level, by assessing their potential impacts, linked to SDG targets’ assessment, before substantial resources are committed. Different visions and strategies on the Mediterranean as a “regional entity” exist among CIHEAM, FAO, and UfMS, and, therefore, there is a need of a common vision and alignment towards the identification of a common feasible SFS approach, context-specific for the Mediterranean region, by taking into account the different perspectives of the stakeholders and establishing a common language and understanding. The CIHEAM Strategic Agenda 2025 and its Action Plan (CapMed 2015), the FAO Strategic Framework and the UfM Roadmap for Action, together with recommendations from CIHEAM and UfM ministerial conferences, FAO Regional Conferences for the Near East and North Africa and for Europe, will be considered as building block for designing the SFS Med Platform operational and conceptual framework, within the overall 2030 Agenda framework, that aligns all institutions, countries and regions. SETTING THE INITIAL OPERATIONAL FRAMEWORK The expected functions of the SFS Med Platform are mainly to: • provide in the Mediterranean a multi-stakeholder meeting place, as a community of practice, for dialogue on food systems and action on the ground for scientists, practitioners and stakeholders with different interests; • provide advice to governments and regional organizations for implementation of transformative and coordinated SCP actions on sustainable food systems; and • mobilize resources for Platform flagship projects, as SCP transformative actions, to cope with the interconnected challenges facing the region, through a 10-year transition work plan, 2021- 2030, towards the 2030 Agenda. The SFS-MED Platform, as a multi-stakeholder initiative, is expected to foster, under the co-leadership of CIHEAM, FAO and UfM, more collaborative partnerships with governmental agencies, United Nations and intergovernmental organizations, universities and research institutions, private sector and civil society organizations. The format of a “platform”, within the United Nations One Planet Network Sustainable Food Systems Programme, will provide also the appropriate operational framework for dialogue and action, through which stakeholders with different interests, from both shores of the 5 WORKING DRAFT 3 August 2020 Mediterranean Sea, can contribute to the shift towards more sustainable food systems in the Mediterranean, to accelerate the 2030 Agenda in the region. The objectives of the SFS-MED Platform have been adapted from the UN One Planet Network SFS Programme’s objectives for its initial operational phase, as follows: Table 2 Objectives of the SFS-MED Platform Objective 1 Raise awareness of the centrality of food systems in the Sustainable Development Goals and the need to shift to more sustainable food systems and to apply an integrated SCP approach to food systems in addressing food security and nutrition in the Mediterranean region. Objective 2 Build capacity and enabling conditions for the identification, prioritization, development and uptake of SCP practices –transformative actions- across Mediterranean food systems and facilitate their access to financial and technical assistance. Catalyse, accelerate and enlarge bold action for the transformation of food systems by all communities, including countries, cities, companies, civil society, citizens, and food producers. Objective 3 Take stock of, categorize and disseminate – and if needed develop – SCP accessible and actionable science-based and/or empirically-demonstrated information tools and methodologies to support governments, the private sector, small-farmers and small-scale fishermen, consumers and other relevant stakeholders to contribute to more sustainable food systems in the Mediterranean region. Objective 4 Bring together SCP food initiatives and develop partnerships to build synergies and cooperation to leverage resources towards the mutual goal of promoting, enhancing and facilitating the shift towards the 2030 Agenda through more sustainable food systems in the Mediterranean region. It is envisioned that the SFS-MED Platform will actively contribute to the achievement of the following UN Food Systems Summit’s objectives, that together represent a benchmark of food systems transformation: 1. Ensuring Access to Safe and Nutritious Food for All, by enabling all people to be well nourished and healthy; progressive realization of the right to food 2. Shifting to Sustainable Consumption Patterns (promoting and creating demand for healthy and sustainable diets, reducing waste) 3. Boosting Nature-Positive Production at Sufficient Scales (acting on climate change, reducing emissions and increasing carbon capture, regenerating and protecting critical ecosystems and reducing food loss and energy usage, without undermining health or nutritious diets) 4. Advancing Equitable Livelihoods and Value Distribution (raising incomes, distributing risk, expanding inclusion, promoting full and productive employment and decent work for all) 5. Building Resilience to Vulnerabilities, Shocks and Stresses (ensuring the continued functionality of healthy and sustainable food systems) The objectives of the SFS-MED Platform are also foreseen to contribute to the UN Summit’s outcomes: 6 WORKING DRAFT 3 August 2020 ➢ Raise awareness of how central food systems are to the whole sustainable development agenda and the urgency of food system transformation - never more important than in the wake of a global pandemic, not to mention resource scarcity, growing conflicts, ecosystem degradation, and climate change. ➢ Align stakeholders around a common understanding and narrative of a food system framework as a foundation for concerted action, where food and food systems become a much more widespread issue for advocacy and action to achieve the 2030 sustainable development agenda. ➢ Recognize the need for inclusivity and innovation in food systems governance and action. ➢ Motivate and empower all stakeholders who actively and appropriately support food systems transformation at all levels through the development of improved tools, measurement, and analysis. ➢ Catalyse, accelerate and enlarge bold action for the transformation of food systems by all communities, including countries, cities, companies, civil society, citizens, and food producers. 3.1.1. Collaborative multi-stakeholder resource mobilization plan: a key for the long-term sustainability of the platform CIHEAM, FAO and UfMS have been successfully operating and collaborating in the Mediterranean region by implementing numerous initiatives within their respective mandates. They share the same aim of enhancing regional dialogue and cooperation amongst their Member States. Therefore, as co-leads of the SFS MED Platform, CIHEAM, FAO and UfM can play together a central role by strengthening regional sustainable development for coping with the complex interconnected challenges facing the Mediterranean today, and, at the same time, jointly accelerating the 2030 Agenda3 in the region. In view of these radical transformational changes taking place, at global and regional levels, the three organizations, CIHEAM, FAO and UfM are willing to strengthening their collaboration in the Mediterranean, through the co-development of this multi-stakeholder SFS Platform, within the United Nations One Planet network SFS Programme framework, in order to promote sustainable development and sustainable food systems in the region. The entry point: the added value of bringing together the comparative advantages of CIHEAM, FAO, and UfMS, at once, with those of the United Nations One Planet Network’s SFS Programme, as well as other Platform stakeholders, will have a synergetic value greater than the simple sum of their individual comparative advantages, therefore, attracting a wider support from donors, sponsors and international finance institutions as investors. By drawing maximum benefit from this critical mass of added comparative advantages, a joint resource mobilization plan should be identified and co-developed to allow the Platform to be more competitive in intercepting funds from a broad variety of funding sources, public and private, in compliance with CIHEAM/FAO/UfM procedures. CIHEAM’s comparative advantage: as a well-established intergovernmental and research institution specialized in agriculture and rural development in the Mediterranean region, over the last five decades, the CIHEAM has been striving to foster stronger multilateral cooperation in the Mediterranean, by 3 Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN General Assembly 2015 https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E 7 WORKING DRAFT 3 August 2020 providing evidence-based information from the Mediterranean perspective, as well as putting forward at the heart of the global debate their best practices on food security and agricultural development. Founded in 1962, the CIHEAM is a Mediterranean intergovernmental organization devoted to the sustainable development of agriculture and fisheries, food and nutrition security and rural and coastal areas. It is composed of 13 members states (Albania, Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey), and operates through its 4 Institutes based in Bari (Italy), Chania (Greece), Montpellier (France) and Zaragoza (Spain) and the Headquarters based in Paris. The added value of CIHEAM is to bring together its intergovernmental members from 13 ministries of agriculture who can influence policy and decision-making processes in such areas as rural development, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, livestock, food systems and natural resources, as well as enabling the capacity development of professionals and experts from all Mediterranean countries and abroad, promoting gender equality and youth employment, as well as their social protection. More than 40,000 experts have been trained by the CIHEAM since 1962. The Network of CIHEAM Alumni (NCA) is a very important capacity building tool for scientific and multilateral cooperation that has brought significant benefits to the Mediterranean research and political dialogue. CIHEAM is currently engaged in several high-level networks, including MOAN, ERANET-MED, ENPARD, MED-Amin, SAMEFood, FORESTERRA and whose activities contributed to the establishment of strong synergies among Mediterranean institutions and the creation of a common language and a shared development discourse. The CIHEAM is very active in research programs, knowledge sharing and capacity building. Each year, the CIHEAM publishes around 200 articles in its 4 collections: Mediterra, Options, Watch Letter, and New Medit. The CIHEAM through the implementation of international cooperation projects generates a strong social, cultural and economic impact in countries, territories or specific contexts of intervention. These interventions in fact bring improvements in the working conditions of the beneficiaries and set various objectives such as economic growth; the strengthening of local institutions through the empowerment of local operators with remote training courses; the reduction of inequalities, poverty and hunger; the improvement of economic conditions, health, and universal access to food. As for example in the program, "Agriculture and Livestock Support for Syrian People", the objectives achieved were primarily assessment of the impact and the social value generated, the possibility of profoundly influencing the improvement of the quality of life on various aspects for the population of beneficiaries and for Syrian population in general, and the overall policy objective of reducing migration to European countries. FAO’s comparative advantage: FAO is applying an SDG lens to all its work and, as custodian agency for 21 of the SDG indicators, it has been developing data collection tools that can be adopted universally and cost-effectively. FAO’s normative guidance, as well as its knowledge products and tools, can be used by impact investors willing to apply the SDG framework to address a variety of global issues such as child labour, gender mainstreaming and climate change mitigation. In the context of agricultural investments, FAO’s aim is to assist agricultural investment practitioners in shaping their social and environmental sustainability frameworks and providing concrete and sound tools for private sector investor players’ due diligence, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. As a neutral forum, FAO has a long history of engagement with stakeholders in the areas of food security and nutrition, with such technical topics as sustainable practices and systems, sustainability evaluation, indicators, and voluntary standards. FAO has extensive experience in capacity development covering the whole food system from production to consumption. As a United Nations organization has a global mandate on food and agriculture, FAO can globally, promote multi-stakeholder dialogue by facilitating partnerships for food and nutrition security, agriculture and rural development between governments, development partners, civil society and the 8 WORKING DRAFT 3 August 2020 private sector. FAO has a broad mandate that includes major development problems that need to be targeted from a broad and comprehensive perspective. FAO has a main responsibility in providing communication and information services in all areas of its mandate to countries and the development community and to strongly advocate on corporate positions in relation to relevant and urgent development issues. UfM’s comparative advantage: Created by the 43 Euro-Mediterranean Heads of State and Government meeting in Paris on 13th July 2008, the UfM Secretariat is a multilateral partnership composed of 43 countries (28 EU Member States and 15 Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Countries) with the mandate of enhancing regional cooperation and integration between both shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Political decisions are by consensus of the 43 and ensure ownership, integration of the shared topics in the common regional agenda and sustainability over time through regional and national support. Its Secretariat (the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean) is the first permanent structure dedicated to the intergovernmental Mediterranean partnership. The Secretariat is the platform to operationalize and follow-up decisions taken at political level with a view to monitoring the progress in the implementation of Ministerial Declarations’ commitments and promoting the initiatives, programs and projects intended to foster cooperation in the region. Its multi-partner approach is crucial for seizing opportunities through the exchange of best practices, sharing of experiences, identifying new and innovative methodologies and developing regional and sub-regional networks, following the principles of co-ownership and variable geometry and in collaboration with other key stakeholders in the Euro-Mediterranean area. The UfM operates at three levels: Policy – through Ministerial Decisions by the 43 members countries; Platforms through working groups; and key Projects which respond to the ministerial priorities, make a difference on the ground and can be further up- scaled to other countries of the region. The UfM Ministerial/s Declaration adopted by the 43 UfM member countries has at its core sustainable consumption and production and a package of actions geared to move towards green and low carbon economy; very relevant and inspired to the same SCP principles are the 2015 UfM Ministerial on Blue Economy4 and the 2017 UfM Ministerial on Water5. The Euro- Mediterranean on Research and Innovation serves as well as crosscutting reference. The upcoming UfM 2020 on Blue Economy and the one on Environment and Climate Change offer a great opportunity to move further the package of actions on the new green deal and related transition, including sustainable consumption and production as core approach. Awareness on benefits of the Mediterranean Diet needs also engagement with educational stakeholders. Possible synergies could be also envisaged with the Mediterranean Strategy on Education Sustainable Development, integral part of the 2014 UfM Ministerial Declaration on Environment and Climate Change. UN One Planet Network and the SFS Programme’s comparative advantage: the 10YFP is inscribed as target 12.1 of the SDG 12. The 10YFP is comprises six programmes: i) consumer information; ii) sustainable lifestyles and education; iii) sustainable public procurement; iv) sustainable buildings and construction; v) sustainable tourism; vi) sustainable food systems (SFS). The SFS Programme has been increasingly acknowledged as an important multi-stakeholder partnership for the promotion of sustainable food systems. The HLPF 2018 Ministerial Declaration6 recognized the One Planet Network 4 https://ufmsecretariat.org/ufm-ministerial-on-blue-economy/ 5 https://ufmsecretariat.org/ufm-ministerial-meeting-water/ 6 HLPF. (2018) https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=E/HLS/2018/1&Lang=E 9 WORKING DRAFT 3 August 2020 as an implementing mechanism for the SDGs and “called upon all stakeholders to adopt a food systems approach”. At the 4th United Nations Environment Assembly7 in March 2019, Ministers pledged “to promote sustainable food systems”, and a resolution on reducing food loss and waste was adopted with explicit links to the SFS Programme. In June 2019, the FAO Conference endorsed the recommendations of FAO’s Committee on Agriculture, including to “support governments, upon request, in adopting a sustainable food systems approach” and to “continue its support in strengthening strategic partnerships and platforms, notably the 10 YFP Sustainable Food Systems Programme8”. The One Planet Network SFS Programme, established in 2015, within the 10YFP, with the goal to accelerate the shift towards more sustainable food systems, now has 172 members, with a portfolio of 54 initiatives and four task forces. It has organized two global conferences, and a third one is planned for the end of 2020, with the intention to produce input for the UN Food Systems Summit that will take place in 2021. In 2018, FAO COAG requested of strengthening the SFS Programme9. CIHEAM and FAO were both members of the One Planet SFS Programme since its establishment in 2015, at the EXPO of Milan. The Government of Tunisia has been elected in 2019 as a new member of its Multi-stakeholder Advisory Committee (MAC), together with IFAD and the World Economic Forum. Since 2015, FAO and CIHEAM have started to develop a joint vision on the Mediterranean, for a renewed strategic partnership to better serve the needs of their member countries in the Mediterranean Region, as follow-up of the 10th CIHEAM ministerial meeting, in Algiers in 2014, when the Ministers requested “that the European Union, FAO and CIHEAM examine the idea of defining a common strategic cooperation agenda designed to support agricultural, food and sustainable rural development in the Mediterranean”. 3.1.1.1. ATTRACTING PRIVATE AND PUBLIC INVESTMENTS TO ACCELERATE THE 2030 AGENDA IN THE REGION There is growing recognition that Official Development Assistance (ODA) or national budgets will not meet the funding gap required to achieve the SDGs, and that massive private sector funding will be required. In agriculture, private sector investment is not constrained by financial liquidity, but by high risks and low returns. ODA should therefore be used strategically to leverage private agricultural investment towards achieving the SDGs by de-risking and increasing profitability. Initiatives such as the FAO AgrInvest10, FishInvest and AquaInvest, could be considered, together with others identified by CIHEAM and UfMS, to attract public and de-risk private sector investments in scaling-up outstanding stakeholder Platforms’ projects, within the Platform’s resource mobilization framework, as drafted below in Errore. L'origine riferimento non è stata trovata.. The mobilization of SDG-compatible investments should be prioritized over the mobilization of resources for the platform itself, therefore the role of countries and governments in ensuring that investments support their own strategies and plans needs to be further articulated. A stronger focus in the resource mobilization plan should be put on the Platform “flagship projects”, Mediterranean context-specific at the country, territorial or site level, with a significant transformative impact for coping with identified priority challenges, and with high further replication potential. It should be 7 UNEP. (2019) http://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/28517/English.pdf 8 http://www.fao.org/3/na421en/na421en.pdf 9 http://www.fao.org/3/my349en/my349en.pdf 10 http://www.fao.org/3/ca3825en/CA3825EN.pdf 10 WORKING DRAFT 3 August 2020 considered also to propose the Platform for being eligible as an UfM “labelled” flagship project, by being a collaborative partnership, with a significant transformative regional impact11. Further synergies with existing regional initiatives and programs, such as the Near East and North Africa’s Water Scarcity Initiative, AgrInvest and FishInvest, Building Resilience for Food Security and Nutrition in the Near East and North Africa, PRIMA, WestMed, Blue Growth and Blue Hope, BlueMed, Small Scale Family Farming for Inclusive Development in the Near East and North Africa, and other to be identified, in close collaboration with FAO Regional offices for Near East/North Africa and Europe, could draw more public and private investment to the Mediterranean Multi-stakeholder SFS Platform’s actions, facilitating networking and interplay among researchers, private sectors, public administration and civil society. The joint mobilization plan of the SFS MED Platform, as multi-resource/multi-stakeholder collaborative effort, should allow: 1. Attracting multi-donor funds, sponsors and international finance institutions as investors on SFS research, innovation, sharing knowledge and capacity building, by embracing under the Platform a variety of small, medium and large projects, responding to diverse needs of resource partners; 2. Intercepting and redirecting more responsible funds and investments in SCP, sustainable agriculture, sustainable fisheries and forests, such as EU funds on SCP, as well as South-South and Triangular Cooperation funds; 3. Scaling-up stakeholders’ platform flagship projects excellences in SFS research, innovation and capacity building, as the missed last-mile, for Mediterranean small-scale holders, rural and coastal communities, youth and women, for empowering them to access local and global markets; 4. Enhancing SFS multi-stakeholder engagement and public-private partnerships among key actors and strengthening relationships with long-term and historical donors and partners of CIHEAM/FAO/UfM, and diversifying their funding base by increasing the interest of non- traditional donors; 5. Contributing to the 2030 Agenda Partnership Accelerator, the multi-year project fostered by UNDESA, UNOSD, UNOP and the Partnering Initiative to help accelerate and scale up effective partnerships in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 3.1.2. Stakeholders and Beneficiaries Potential initial stakeholders have been foreseen those who collaborated to the 2nd World Conference on the Revitalization of the Mediterranean Diet and already expressed informally their interests on the SFS Med Platform co-development, together with other stakeholders who, in informal exchanges, expressed potential interests are reported below by clusters: 11 “Flagship projects” are defined by UfM as projects that have a significant transformative impact, such as those promoting interconnections –whether physical or on knowledge projects- or projects that support specific regional policy agendas, and are either directly regional projects (i.e. directly involving several countries) or national projects with a regional impact. Such “flagship projects” would be expected to have a high further replication potential, helping the transmission of knowledge or innovative approaches across the region. 11 WORKING DRAFT 3 August 2020 • Governments, development cooperation and local agencies • International and inter-governmental organizations • Research and technical institutions and universities • Producers organizations • Farmers and fishermen organizations • Consumer organizations • Private sector actors • Small and Medium Sized Enterprises • Civil society and cultural organizations • Local, rural and coastal communities • Youth and Women associations • Media • International Finance Institutions Beneficiaries of the Platform expected results will be all food systems stakeholders, from production to consumption, operating in the Mediterranean region. 3.1.3. Platform Communication and Visibility Plan A communication and visibility plan for the SFS Med Platform and the use of its logo, closely connected with its multi-stakeholder resource mobilization plan, will be jointly developed as a stronger multi- resource collaborative corporate communication effort. This plan will be linked to the One Planet Network SFS Programme’s communication strategy to catalyse a broader impact. The purpose behind the Platforms’ communication strategy is to underline the importance of embedding communication within the SFS Med Platform’s objectives, activities and resource mobilization plan, in which communication has a central to play a role in their achievement and success. All three co-leads, CIHEAM, FAO and UfM, will prepare also individual tailor-made informative material (i.e. marketing tools) to attract possible partners/stakeholders (e.g.: development banks, private sector entities, research institutes, governments, etc.), outlining benefits and advantages that joining the Platform could entail. The launch of the communication campaign will be done simultaneously both on the websites of the three organizations, and through press releases and interviews of the representatives of the respective institutions. An illustrative leaflet on the objectives and expected results of the platform will also be prepared for this occasion. One of the key messages of the communication campaign will be also to affirm that, through this platform, three International Organizations agreed, in the light of the ongoing and unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, to further strengthen their joint efforts in the search for common and shared solutions in the Mediterranean. SETTING A JOINT CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK: CONTEXT-SPECIFIC FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN Through a SFS lens, the setting of a joint conceptual framework, context-specific for the Mediterranean and people-centred, has the purpose to identify common perspectives, priority actions and flagship 12 WORKING DRAFT 3 August 2020 projects, having an added transformative value, at the regional, country, territorial or site level, as initial building blocks of the Platform, linking sustainable consumption and production (SCP), for coping with current intertwined challenges and accelerating the 2030 Agenda in the Mediterranean region. The goal of the joint conceptual framework is to identify interconnectivities among various challenges, drivers, processes, outcomes and trade-off, for shaping the context-specific priority transformative actions of the SFS Med Platform. Therefore, the Platform multi-stakeholder flagship projects need to be implemented and scaled-up, as SFS/SCP transformative actions, to impact food systems positively, at every stage, from production, processing, distributing, and marketing to consumption of food. The SFS Med Platform is foreseen to respond to regional and national needs, priorities and circumstances, by taking into account the multi-dimensional nature of food systems, as well as their diversity in developed and developing countries. In order to be adapted to these multiple specificities, the SFS Med Platform is foreseen also to take into account the variety of priorities and levels of development, as well as the direct and indirect drivers and impacts of food systems, considering also that food systems differ greatly both across and within regional and national contexts. At the same time, food systems are becoming increasingly interconnected, through global, regional and local markets and supply chains. They involve billions of actors at different levels along the food supply chain. Sustainable food systems are also key elements for making the green and blue growth thrive, as well as the circular economy, on both shores of the Mediterranean region, by building innovation- approaches and improving well-being and social equity, while lessening environmental risks and ecological scarcities. Therefore, a common understanding of an integrated sustainable food systems approach and its trade- offs, Mediterranean context-specific, and co-developed through an inclusive multi-stakeholder collaborative effort, based on knowledge and partnership, is required for coping with the complexity of current challenges facing the Mediterranean region. The challenges in the Mediterranean region are interdependent, multidimensional and interconnected, and therefore the adoption of a context specific integrated (holistic) approach and people-centred will allow to better understand food systems as a whole and to address all elements across the entire food system, rather than their separate pieces, in order to assess their impacts and trade-offs. Given the heterogeneity of food systems among Mediterranean countries, the design of a sustainable food systems approach in the Mediterranean needs to be context specific and people-centred. The Mediterranean is currently seen mostly as a dividing sea between the two shores, but culturally diverse countries are still united within the Mediterranean diet heritage, as acknowledged in 2010 by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of Humankind. Therefore, the Mediterranean diet has been foreseen, within the co-development of the Platform, as a lever for bridging food consumption and production (SCP) in a healthy and sustainable way in the region, particularly at country level. The diversity and variety of the foods characteristics of the Mediterranean diet, if valorised, can drive a variety of demands, therefore influencing food production. The Mediterranean diet, as an expression of the diversity of Mediterranean food cultures and their different food production, processing and culinary systems, has not yet been recognized as a resource for sustainable development in the Mediterranean region. 13 WORKING DRAFT 3 August 2020 In recent years, within the international debate on the sustainability of food systems and diets, the interest for the Mediterranean diet, acknowledged worldwide as one of the healthiest diets in the world, has started to be recognized also as a sustainable diet model, with multiple benefits, connecting the nutritional well-being of the individual and the community to the sustainability of natural resources, and reaffirming the notion that the health of humans cannot be isolated from the health of ecosystems. The Mediterranean Diet, as highlighted in the Med Diet 4.0 framework12, has multiple sustainable benefits, with country-specific variations: 1) Recognized and well-documented major health and nutrition benefits, in the prevention of chronic diseases and in reducing public health costs as well as in the overall improvement of well-being; 2) Low environmental impacts and richness in biodiversity, appreciation of biodiversity value, reduction of pressure on natural resources and mitigation of climate change; 3) High positive local economic returns, sustainable territorial development, reduction of rural poverty, and high performance in reduction of food waste and loss; 4) High social and cultural value of food, growth of mutual respect, identity recovery, social inclusion and consumer empowerment. There is not one single Mediterranean diet, but rather a number of variations of its basic principles, based on the individual country’s different cultures and food systems present in the Mediterranean region. Current data show that the adherence to the Mediterranean diet’s model is decreasing in the Mediterranean countries. One of the main challenges in analysing and assessing impacts of interconnected factors shaping sustainability of a food system or a dietary pattern is the lack of relevant information and data, particularly in the Mediterranean countries of the Southern-Eastern rim. Therefore, by enhancing the Mediterranean diet as a SCP lever, in both shores of the region, the SFS Med Platform will foster more transdisciplinary research to provide more data and scientific evidence for better understanding how to fill the gap between sustainable food consumption and production. EXPECTED RESULTS The expected outcome is an accelerated shift towards more sustainable food systems (SFS) by bridging more sustainable consumption and production (SCP), through the Mediterranean diet, as a healthy and sustainable lever, towards the attainment of the 2030 Agenda in the Mediterranean region, by fostering more transdisciplinary SFS/SCP dialogues, more science-based evidences, and more collaborative multi- stakeholder partnerships, bringing action on the ground, as key transformative actions for coping with current intertwined challenges facing the Mediterranean region. EXPECTED OUTPUTS • Designed a robust multi-dimensional conceptual framework, with a Mediterranean context- specific approach, for the co-development of the Multi-stakeholder SFS Platform; • Defined a 10-year transition plan, with key transformative actions, for sustainable food systems to accelerate the shift towards the 2030 Agenda in the Mediterranean 12 Dernini, S., Berry, EM., Serra-Majem L., La Vecchia, C., Capone, R., Medina, FX., Aranceta-Bartrina J., Belahsen, R., Burlingame, B., Calabrese, G., Corella, D., Donini, LM., Lairon, D., Meybeck, M., Pekcan, AG., Piscopo, S., Yngve, A., and Trichopoulou, A. (2017) Med Diet 4.0: the Mediterranean diet with four sustainable benefits. Public Health Nutrition, 20(7):1322-1330. 14 WORKING DRAFT 3 August 2020 • Enhanced SFS multi-stakeholder engagement and public-private partnerships among key actors; Unlocked the potential of public and private partnerships and resources and reinforcing South-South and triangular cooperation on SFS in the Mediterranean region; • Identified strategies, programs, projects, initiatives, best practices, studies and researches to be jointly further implemented by scaling-up them, within the Platform, longer than the lifetime of a project and integrating new activities and opportunities with old ones; • Avoided duplication of efforts by fostering a stronger coordination within Platform’s participants, as well as, with other food systems stakeholders, operating on both two shores of the Mediterranean region; • Established a SFS MED Community of Practice for a broader and inclusive participation on the ground of all Platform partners • Scaled-up stakeholders’ platform flagship projects excellences in SFS research, innovation and capacity building, for Mediterranean small-scale holders, rural and coastal communities, youth and women, for empowering them to access local and global markets; • Raised more employment opportunities offered by research, innovation and capacity building towards more sustainable food systems and climate change resilience, while preserving natural resources by bringing small-scale holders, fishermen, farmers, youth and women, at the centre of the Green and Blue Growth and Circular Economy in the Mediterranean region; • Enabled conditions for the knowledge sharing, identification, prioritization, development and uptake of more sustainable practices across food systems in the Mediterranean region; • Made progress in increased SFS and SCP understanding, awareness and boosted multi- stakeholder advocacy and action, in collaboration with the United Nations One Planet SFS Network, and other relevant regional frameworks to stem the problem in the region by accelerating, at the same time, the 2030 Agenda; • Made progress in better understanding interconnections between individual SDGs and food systems; • Made progress in connecting existing SFS and SCP networks to strengthen their action in the Mediterranean region; by fostering a stronger coordination within Platform’s participants, as well as, with other food systems stakeholders, operating on both shores of the Mediterranean region; • Made progress in better understanding SFS and diets, by connecting agriculture, fisheries and food production with food consumption (including food requirements and nutrient recommendation), and their food environment, drivers impacts and trade-offs; • Strengthening science-based dialogues and knowledge sharing, between Northern and Eastern/Southern countries of the Mediterranean, for enhancing transformative food SFS and promoting SCP changes for accelerating the 2030 Agenda in the region, by using CIHEAM, FAO, and UfM existing partnerships and MoU with relevant institutions; • Converted more collaborative multi-stakeholder SFS partnerships into action on the ground, within the broader global environment of the United Nations One Planet Network, to improve 15 WORKING DRAFT 3 August 2020 food security, nutrition and climate change resilience in the Mediterranean region, within the framework of the 2030 agenda; • Increased transdisciplinary research, knowledge sharing, innovation, skills and capacity building on employable fields connected to sustainable food production and consumption in the Mediterranean, with particular regard to the employability of youth and women, and to the improvement of relevant scientific research; • Fostered analysis and data gathering, using, among others, the One Health approach for expanding interdisciplinary collaborations and communications in all aspects of health care for humans, animals and the environment. • Finalized and developed the “Voluntary Guidelines for the Sustainability of the Mediterranean diet in the Mediterranean region”, as a safeguard measure for strengthening the Mediterranean diet as a SCP lever at the regional and country level. • Contributed to following key outcomes of the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit: ✓ Dramatically elevated public discourse about the importance of food systems leading to the achievement of the SDGs and what to do to get the public working for people and planet. ✓ Significant action, with measurable outcomes that enable achievement of the 2030 goals. This will include highlighting existing solutions and celebrating leaders in food systems transformation, as well as calling for new actions worldwide by different actors, including countries, cities, companies, civil society, citizens, and food producers. ✓ A high-level set of principles established through the process that will guide Member States and other stakeholders to leverage their food systems capacity to support the SDGs. Distilled through all elements of the preparatory process, these principles will set an optimistic and encouraging vision in which food systems play a central role in delivering on the vision of the 2030 Agenda. ✓ A system of follow-up and review that will drive new actions and results, allow for sharing of experiences, lessons, and knowledge, and incorporate new metrics for impact analysis. 4. A WAY FORWARD Biennial work plans should be developed, to facilitate the planning, implementation and monitoring of the platform's activities. An initial working roadmap 2020-2021 will be outlined with proposed criteria and milestones for the joint co-development of the SFS MED Platform with interested stakeholders and decision-makers, within a 10-year transition work plan (2021-2030). Biennial work plans will be further developed, to facilitate the planning, implementation, and monitoring of the platform's activities. 16 WORKING DRAFT 3 August 2020 The SFS-MED Platform will be developed within the UN Decade of Action for the SDGs13, taking into account the preparatory process of the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, and in alignment with the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition Programme (2016-2025)14, the UN Decade on Family Farming Global Action Plan (2019-2028)15 and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030)16. The outcomes of the upcoming 2020 FAO Regional Conference for the Near East and North Africa, the 2020 FAO Regional Conference for Europe, the 2020 UfM Ministerial Meetings on Blue Economy, the 2020 UfM Ministerial on Environment and Climate Change, the 2020 CIHEAM Ministerial on “Strengthening the role of youth and women in Mediterranean food systems”, and the preparation process towards the G20 that will be held in Italy in 2021 for promoting enhanced advocacy for the 2015 Istanbul G20 Action Plan on Food Security and Sustainable Food Systems17 will also be taken into account. 13 https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/74/4 14 https://www.un.org/nutrition/sites/www.un.org.nutrition/files/general/pdf/work_programme_nutrition_decade.pdf 15 http://www.fao.org/3/ca4672en/ca4672en.pdf 16 https://www.decadeonrestoration.org 17 http://www.g20.utoronto.ca/2015/150508-agriculture.pdf 17