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DSM’s co-CEO on Thursday highlighted the deep connection between climate change and food systems, stressing the importance of going fast and using technology to meet the challenges they create.
Speaking to CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe”, Geraldine Matchett said that food systems are “one of the major causes of climate change, with around 25% of … greenhouse gases coming from agricultural space and food “. They were also, she said, “one of the biggest victims.”
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, “food systems” encompass everything from production and processing to distribution, consumption and disposal.
Agriculture, which is likely to be affected by climate change, is a key cog. Indeed, the FAO has described climate change as having “both direct and indirect effects on agricultural productivity, including changes in rainfall patterns, drought, flooding and the geographic redistribution of pests and diseases”.
Given the above, it’s no surprise that many view the challenge of producing enough food while adapting to climate change and mitigating agriculture’s environmental footprint as enormous.
Later this year, these topics will be discussed in detail at the COP26 Climate Change Conference and the United Nations Food Systems Summit, to be held in the Scottish cities of Glasgow and New York, respectively.
Looking ahead to these events, Matchett described herself as “very optimistic”. She added: “When we (a) realize that there is urgency, but there is also a lot of innovation that is already there to solve this problem, we can move.”
Matchett went on to explain how she believed a renewed focus would be placed on agriculture at COP26.
“I think that one of the key actions that will be pushed … is that each country integrates agricultural space into its objectives,” she said.
There is “a very understandable reason why it was very difficult at the beginning: it is because the food space is not a few big companies or corporations, it is millions of farmers, it is millions of families. ”
Recognizing that the scope of this area is very broad, Matchett also addressed how things could change for the better through carbon sequestration and other technologies related to agriculture and ranching.
The United States Geological Survey describes carbon sequestration as “the process of capturing and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.” By breaking things down a bit more, carbon capture can take place naturally – through forests, for example – or through man-made systems.
“There are a lot of things where you can actually make the farming community the heroes of the climate change resolution, and at the same time be better off,” she added. “So there is a great opportunity, and that’s what’s good about this space: it’s full of opportunities.”
Ideas and innovation
Perhaps one example is the Cauca Climate-Smart Village project in Colombia, an initiative that has focused on developing agricultural practices that are hoped to be both sustainable and resilient to future challenges.
Ana Maria Loboguerrero is Head of Global Policy Research at the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security.
In an interview with CNBC last year, Loboguerrero said the Cauca project is co-generating evidence with farmers on “practices, technologies, which can help us increase productivity and food security, which can help increase adaptation to climate change. and variability and this can help us reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “
During a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, moderated by Steve Sedgwick of CNBC, the idea of using new technologies and innovations in agriculture was reinforced by PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta.
“The concept of demonstration farms is proving to be very powerful,” he said.
“So building demonstration farms where we have the new techniques and where … the farmers in the neighborhood go and learn from their peers is a huge concept (and) we have many demonstration farms around the world. . ”
“(The) second concept that we are working on, along with the World Economic Forum and a few other colleagues, is that of innovation hubs,” Laguarta said.
“There is a lot of money … a lot of ingenuity, going into fintechs in … other areas – there is not enough going into agritech,” he continued.
“And I think we can play a role – big companies with the public sector as well – to build innovation hubs, to bring technology and innovation closer to farmers.”
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