With less than a decade to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of eradicating hunger, reducing malnutrition and accelerating climate action, making our food systems more sustainable requires leadership and bold action. The G20 group of large and advanced economies has a crucial role to play. Together, the G20 members account for 60% of our population, 75% of our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and 80% of our economic output.1 This economic influence translates into an environmental responsibility. As G20 countries prepare to make commitments for the coming decades, they have an opportunity to set an example for other countries around the world.

The Food Sustainability Index (FSI), developed by The Economist Intelligence Unit with the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition, seeks to examine how national food systems are performing across the FSI’s three pillars—nutritional challenges, sustainable agriculture, and food loss and waste—in the context of the index’s broader findings. In this report, we consider how G20 countries are performing across these three pillars and how resilient their food systems are. The Covid-19 pandemic has shone a light on the need to build food systems that are not just sustainable, but also healthy, inclusive and resilient.

During the Italian presidency of the G20, foreign ministers are focusing on food security and agriculture ministers are examining how to build the resilience and sustainability of agricultural sectors. The presidency will also feature the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)-led global food coalition that has a mandate to improve access to food and build resilient and sustainable agri-food systems.

This work should include the most generous definitions possible of these terms—not just rebuilding after Covid-19 and meeting emissions targets, but building better systems that can provide nutritious diets while healing the planet.

The FSI’s results correlate closely with progress towards the SDGs and the Human Development Index. G20 countries performing best in the FSI in 2021 include Canada, Japan, Australia, Germany and France. These countries combine strong outputs with robust policy responses, although there remains room for improvement. Action on food loss and waste is evident across the group, but more can be done to implement binding legislation that holds all stakeholders accountable. In sustainable agriculture, G20 countries are mostly equipped with financing, research and innovation, but many fall behind when it comes to integrating agriculture into their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and incorporating the impacts of climate change into their agricultural policies.

Finally, all G20 countries have policies or programmes in place to encourage healthy eating patterns, and the majority make nutrition a compulsory part of their national curriculum for schools. However, few have gone as far as incorporating sustainability into their food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs), and most continue to subsidise the sugar industry.