Our Global CEO, Philip Lymbery, has been appointed a member of the newly established Food Systems Advisory Board of the United Nations Food Systems Hub, where he will contribute his time and expertise to help inform the food systems debate.

Advisory Board set up in wake of UNFSS+2

This new role, at the invitation of UN Deputy Secretary General Amina J Mohammed, follows his tenure as UN Ambassadorial ‘Champion’ at the 2021 Food Systems Summit in New York. More recently, in July 2023, he attended the United Nations Food System Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment (UNFSS+2) in Rome, where the United Nations Secretary General issued a compelling Call to Action for Food Systems Transformation.

The 19 members of the new board include those from organisations including World Economic Forum (WEF), Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) World Bank, Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and UN Global Compact.

Using their expertise across a range of disciplines, including health, finance, food security, they will provide insights and strategic guidance ahead of the next stocktake UNFSS+4 in 2025. Philip will champion a global food system that works for animals, people and the planet.

The Board serves as a platform to cultivate and harvest ideas and solutions at all levels, from local to global. The aim will be to ensure the actions are as impactful and far-reaching as possible, fostering substantial and sustainable changes in food systems worldwide. The board also plans to reach new global audiences through the participants’ networks, constituencies and institutions.

Urgent need to transform global food system

The way we currently produce and consume food threatens the life of our planet, and all who inhabit it. The livestock sector produces more direct greenhouse gas emissions than the direct emissions of all the world’s planes, trains and cars put together. And while up to 757 million people faced hunger in 2023, many high-income countries are over-consuming animal-sourced foods, not only causing harm to billions of animals each year, but also damaging human and planetary health.

Philip’s appointment follows his participation in the EU’s Strategic Dialogue earlier this year, in his capacity as President of Eurogroup for Animals, where leaders from food, farming, academia, and the environment gathered in Brussels to discuss the future of EU Agriculture.

He comments:

"Our food system has the potential to cause irreversible harm to our planet, and all those who inhabit it, but it is not an inevitability. It is a huge honour to join this Board and work alongside experts from different disciplines and corners of the earth, so we can create a more positive food system that provides a safe future that benefits animals, people and the planet.  

“The role of animal agriculture in the climate crisis is no longer the elephant in the room, and it is an honour to have the opportunity to raise awareness of this issue at the highest level in order to ensure a liveable planet for the future.”