In 2021, 228 senior executives committed to take action in six key areas through the Business Declaration on Food Systems Transformation at the UN Food Systems Summit. Two years later, WBCSD, which convened the Food Systems Summit’s Private Sector Guiding Group, and WBA collaborated to assess progress, revealing areas of success, and highlighting gaps that demand further attention going forward. This report serves as a comprehensive overview, urging accelerated action and accountability to propel the transition towards sustainable and equitable food systems.
Employing quantitative and qualitative methods, we utilized the recently released dataset from the WBA Food and Agriculture Benchmark, assessing the progress 28 ranked Business Declaration signatory companies achieved across the six commitment areas defined in the 2021 Business Declaration. These commitment areas are: scaling science-based solutions; creating transparency; ensuring an equitable transformation; improving livelihoods and well-being; providing investments in research and education; and incentivizing consumers to be agents of change.
While Business Declaration signatories continue to show leadership, ranking highly amongst the 350 companies in the Food and Agriculture Benchmark, the report underscores the need for substantial scaling of ambition in various areas. The report elaborates in more detail on each of the six commitment areas and provides insights into accomplished progress, challenges hindering progress and introduces best practice examples from leading signatory companies. Overall, urgent action, strengthened corporate performance and accountability, and an enabling environment are essential for transforming food systems for people, nature, and climate.