The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI 2025), released in Addis Ababa at the end of July, noted that while food insecurity has improved in Asia and Latin America, the proportion of hungry people in Africa exceeds 20%, and the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity is expected to rise from 57.5% in 2023 to 58.9% in 2024. The report emphasized the urgency of policy development to ensure that no one is left behind.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released its world food price trend report on August 8. The average for July 2025 was 130.1 points, up 1.6% from June. While price indices for cereals, dairy products, and sugar declined, increases in the price indices for meat and vegetable oils outweighed the decline. Overall, the price index rose 7.6% from July of the previous year, but remained 18.8% lower than the peak recorded in March 2022.

In July 2025, Japan's monthly average temperature was the highest of any July since statistics began in 1898.　In turn, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) declared July 2025 to be the third-warmest on record, describing it as a respite from a continuous streak of record-breaking temperatures.

Earth system scientists have developed the planetary boundaries framework to measure and track the stability and resilience of the Earth system, quantifying safe zones for nine processes increasingly affected by human activities.  In parallel, health scientists are concerned that Earth system change threatens the conditions underlying human health and well-being. An editorial published in The Lancet made the following four proposals for closer integration of planetary boundaries and planetary health research.

In her closing remarks at the UN Food Systems Summit +4 (UNFSS+4) held in Addis Ababa on July 29, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed lauded the growing momentum for food systems transformation and emphasized that food systems must be the solution for people, planet, peace, and prosperity.

Economic development worldwide is associated with the prevalence of obesity and related health problems. A study published in the journal PNAS looked at energy consumption and obesity in 4,213 adults across six continents, representing a variety of lifestyles and economies, and found that dietary intake plays a much larger role in obesity associated with economic development than does a decline in energy consumption.

On 28 July, the United Nations Food Systems Summit +4 (UNFSS+4) plenary sessions kicked off in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with a number of special sessions including by renowned experts in the field of food systems research.

The Secretary-General's Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals Report provides a global overview of progress made in the decade since the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted in 2015 and identifies areas where decisive action is needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Since 2015, progress has been made on SDG2, with reductions in child stunting and wasting and modest improvements in dietary diversity for young children, but hunger and food insecurity are worsening and small-scale producers continue to earn significantly less than their larger counterparts. The report highlights the importance of food systems transformation, among others, in achieving the 2030 Agenda.

Food systems face challenges in providing equitable, healthy diets to people around the world, supporting sustainable livelihoods, and ensuring environmental protection. A Nature Food editorial proposes a rethinking of food system-wide governance to address these issues.