With climate change, extreme weather and shifting consumption patterns placing increasing strain on the world’s food supply, more than 400 delegates from 60 countries have gathered in Paro for the first Global Conscious Food Systems Summit.
The international gathering comes at a time when concerns over food security are being compounded by a strengthening El Niño, which experts expect to intensify through the remainder of 2026. The weather phenomenon could bring drought, erratic rainfall and crop losses to several parts of the world, adding another layer of uncertainty to an already vulnerable global food system.
Against this backdrop, the summit is examining whether addressing the food challenge requires looking beyond agricultural production alone.
At the centre of the discussions is the emerging idea of “conscious food systems” — an approach that considers how food is produced, distributed and consumed, while also examining its relationship with human health, culture, communities and the natural environment.
The opening day placed particular emphasis on the role of consciousness and individual as well as collective change in responding to what participants described as a wider global “polycrisis”.
Former Irish President Mary Robinson stressed the importance of bringing people, environmental concerns and public policy together.
“When people, nature and policies work together, change is possible,” Robinson said. “UNDP stands ready to strengthen the framework that you are all creating, to turn values into action and consciousness into change. With policies, investments and partnerships for food systems that feed everyone without costing us the earth.”
While much of the discussion focused on policy and systemic transformation, participants were also encouraged to examine their own relationship with food. A guided mindful-eating exercise introduced delegates to the idea of conscious eating, drawing attention to how food is experienced and to the choices consumers make in their everyday lives.
The summit also explored the growing connection between climate change and hunger, with speakers arguing that food security can no longer be addressed separately from environmental challenges.
Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the changing global climate had made the two increasingly interconnected.
“Food security has become inseparable from climate security,” Ban said. “This new reality demands that we fundamentally rethink how food is produced, distributed, consumed and valued, especially with the United Nations warning that more than 49 million people may face acute hunger by the end of the year.”
For host country Bhutan, the summit is also being presented as an opportunity to move beyond discussion and test some of the approaches being proposed.
Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay said Bhutan was prepared to serve as a place where conscious food-system ideas could be tried, evaluated and eventually shared with others.
“If we test honestly, if we measure carefully, if we learn openly and if we share generously, this summit can become more than just a gathering,” Tobgay said. “It can become a community of practice, a place where ideas move to action and where action produces knowledge that others can use.”
The emphasis on experimentation reflects one of the central questions facing delegates in Paro: whether broad concepts involving sustainability, wellbeing and consciousness can be translated into practical changes for farmers, consumers, businesses and governments.
Over the next three days, delegates are expected to examine sustainable approaches to food production, indigenous knowledge, farmer wellbeing and nutrition, as well as the relationship between consumers and markets.
With pressures on agriculture expected to grow as climate conditions become more unpredictable, the discussions in Paro will ultimately be judged by whether the ideas emerging from the summit can make the transition from conversation to workable solutions — and whether those solutions can help build food systems capable of feeding growing populations without further exhausting the natural systems on which food production depends.
