Connecting the global agri value chain from farm to fork for sustainable resilient food systems
About
Climate Action, in technical collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), hosted a three-part digital event series addressing global food, agriculture, and land use challenges in the face of our climate and health emergencies.
The series was designed in response to the growing demand for new models of multi-stakeholder collaboration to achieve food security, sustainable development and other global goals outlined in the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
3-Part Series Hosted on AI-Based Networking Platform
Influence and Interact
with 3,000+ senior attendees from the public, private and NGO sectors on the event platform throughout the 3-part series.
Connect and Network
Engage during Live Sessions
through live polling and audience Q&A’s. 340+ minutes live online thought leadership sessions.
Food Security and the Global Recovery
Can we rebuild global food security to accelerate a resilient recovery?
75th World Food Day: The Future of Food
How will we feed 10 billion people in 2050?
Agribusiness and the SDGs
How can we rethink investments and financial mechanisms to align agribusiness with the SDGs?
Featured Speakers
Dr Dave Nabarro
Special Advisor to WHO
United Nations
David Nabarro is the Co-Director of the Imperial College Institute of Global Health Innovation at the Imperial College London and supports systems leadership for sustainable development through his Switzerland based social enterprise 4SD. From March 2020, David is appointed Special Envoy of WHO Director General on COVID-19. He secured his medical qualification in 1974 and has worked in over 50 countries – in communities and hospitals, governments, civil society, universities, and in United Nations programs.
David worked for the British government in the 1990s as head of Health and Population and director for Human Development in the UK Department for International Development. From 1999 to 2017 he held leadership roles in the UN system on disease outbreaks and health issues, food insecurity and nutrition, climate change and sustainable development. In October 2018, David received the World Food Prize together with Lawrence Haddad for their leadership in raising the profile and building coalitions for action for better nutrition across the Sustainable Development Goals.
Mike Barry
Chair
The Great Food Challenge
Mike is a leader in sustainable change. One of the pioneers of green business in the corporate world he helped to develop, launch and implement Marks and Spencer’s ground-breaking sustainability programme, Plan A (because there is no Plan B for the one world we have). In ten years, Plan A delivered £750m of net business benefit and over the years won 230 awards.
During his time at M&S he helped evolve Plan A to become a change management programme designed to make sustainability ‘how M&S did business’. The business achieved zero-waste-to-landfill status, moved to 100% renewable electricity and achieved carbon neutrality across its global estate of stores, offices and warehouses.
He helped the business engage in some of the world’s leading collaboration platforms for sustainability such as the World Economic Forum, the Consumer Goods Forum and Business in the Community. His external leadership ensured that Plan A leadership and learning was leveraged into wider change throughout the global economy, including:
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Inaugural winner of the Guardian Sustainable Business Innovator of the year in 2011 after a public vote;
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Co-chair of the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) Sustainability Steering Group;
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Chair of the World Environment Centre;
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Member of Business in the Community’s Environmental Leadership team;
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Business Fellow at the Smith Centre Oxford University;
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Senior Associate Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership
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Ethical Corporation Honouree 2019
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Trustee at Blueprint for Better Business
Having worked at an international level of business, with charities, with think tanks, and with start-ups he has a broad array of experience. He has proven the necessity of dialogue, trust and the willingness to develop engagement into wide ranging mutually beneficial partnerships. This is vital for the interconnected world we live in.
During his career he has shown exceptional drive, integrity and personal resilience throughout periods of management change, takeover battles and challenging trading. He has developed excellent leadership skills and has demonstrated his ambition and passion to build a more sustainable future.
Upon leaving M&S he formed mikebarryeco ltd in order to support organisations across society and the economy to deliver sustainable change.
Eric Soubeiran
CEO
Danone Ecosystem Fund
Eric SOUBEIRAN is Danone’s One Planet and Water Cycle Vice-President and member of the Cycles & Procurement Board. In this role, he is responsible for the company’s sustainability agenda and coordinating on climate change, water resource protection, regenerative agriculture, circular economy and human rights. Eric also serve as the new Chief Executive of the Danone Ecosystem Fund. Eric will promote synergies between Danone and Ecosystem to maximize the social and economic impact of the fund and ensure that innovations and best practices proven in the Ecosystem’s projects are scaled inside and outside Danone.
Eric joined Danone in 2010 in the group’s operations in the Indian sub-continent. During this period, he launched a range of nutritional products designed for the ‘bottom of pyramid’ customers, with an innovative route to market approach. In 2013, Eric joined Danone’s marketing team, in charge of Activia and Vitalinea brands for the French market. In 2014, Eric was appointed director of milk sourcing for Danone in Europe, managing a network of 4,000 dedicated farmers across six European countries during a period of deep transformation in the milk market.
Eric also serves as administrator of the Livelihoods Carbon Fund and the Gold Standards foundation.
Juan Lucas Restrepo
Director General
Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
Arianna Giuliodori
Secretary General
World Farmers' Organisation
Ms. Arianna Giuliodori was appointed Secretary General of the World Farmers’ Organisation, WFO, in December 2017. After her degree in Communications Sciences, Ms. Giuliodori got a Master in Economics and Rural Development at Siena University in Italy. Farmers and Agriculture have always been part of her working life: she spent 10 years serving at the Italian farmers’ organisation Coldiretti, first in Rome and then in Brussels, acting as Economic Officer, Secretary General of Young Farmers, Head of the President’s Technical Secretariat and finally as Senior Policy Advisor at the European Representation. Four years’ experience in an American multinational research and consulting company in Paris and an executive MBA at Sorbonne University complete her profile, giving her a strong business-oriented approach.
In her present position as WFO Secretary General, she has been strongly promoting a solid governance of the association and a wide set of international partnerships to ensure that the farmers can fully play their fundamental role in the Sustainability challenge.
Viktoria de Bourbon de Parme
Food Transformation Lead
World Benchmarking Alliance
Tess Kelly
Corporate Development and Communications Manager
Quorn
Tess has spent over 4 years working in the meat alternative sector within research translation roles, utilising expertise in health psychology and its application to nutritional behaviours, dietary change, and food system sustainability. Prior to her role at Quorn Foods, Tess completed a masters focused on plant-based nutrition in long term conditions, has worked extensively within the hospitality sector, and grew up on a working farm.
H.E. Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko
Commissioner, Rural Economy and Agriculture
African Union Commission
H.E. Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, from Angola, was elected as the new commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union Commission. Mrs Sacko was the special adviser to the Minister of agriculture, assigned with the responsibility of advising on issues related to international cooperation both bilateral and multilateral.
How will you engage?
Showcase game-changing innovations and partnerships in The Great Food Challenge: Digital Event Series
With the technical collaboration of the
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
Our goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With over 194 member states, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide. We believe that everyone can play a part in ending hunger.
Join us in creating a #ZeroHunger world.
Supporting Partners
Quorn Foods is the leading global meat-free foods brand and manufacturer based in North Yorkshire, UK. Quorn products are made from Mycoprotein – a nutritionally healthy protein that is meat-free and has a low environmental impact. Quorn Foods has a mission to make better protein for you and the planet. We make the world’s diets healthier and more sustainable by helping you to create great tasting meals every day.
Yara
Yara grows knowledge to responsibly feed the world and protect the planet. Supporting our vision of a world without hunger, we pursue a strategy of sustainable value growth, promoting climate-friendly and high-yielding crop nutrition solutions for the world’s farming community and food industry.
Yara’s ambition is to be the Crop Nutrition Company for the Future. We are committed to creating value for our customers, shareholders and society at large, as we work to develop a more sustainable food value chain. To achieve our ambition, we have taken the lead in developing digital farming tools for precision farming, and work closely with partners throughout the food value chain to improve the efficiency and sustainability of agriculture and food production.
Founded in 1905 to solve the emerging famine in Europe, Yara has established a unique position as the industry’s only global crop nutrition company. With our integrated business model and a worldwide presence of around 16,000 employees and operations in over 60 countries, we offer a proven track record of responsible and reliable returns. In 2019, Yara reported revenues of USD 12.9 billion.
Teralytic Inc.
Farrelly & Mitchell
Ward Labs
Ward Laboratories, Inc. is an agricultural testing laboratory dedicated to serving agricultural producers throughout the world. We specialize in analyses related to soil, soil health, plant tissue, feed, forages, water, manures, fertilizers, and other special testing products. We aim to provide information needed to make critical production decisions. Participation in proficiency programs and trained, educated personnel ensures accurate, precise, and reliable test results. Ward Laboratories, Inc. is committed to excellent analytical results and service through the dynamics of its quality assurance system, the integrity of its people, and the professionals we employ. Our goal to fully serve the agricultural sector is accomplished through consultation with professional staff before, during, and after testing.
“We are delighted to collaborate with Climate Action as the world battles with climate change, biodiversity loss and COVID-19. These digital dialogues will help us convene and connect together to address The Global Food Challenge and build back better for climate-resilient and sustainable food systems.”
"Climate Action’s digital Roadmap to COP26 has created a platform to help organisations from across the stakeholder spectrum to honour their pledges at a time when face-to-face meetings are not an option. I look forward to the evolution of Climate Action’s Roadmap towards COP26 next year."
"Their events are fantastic because they help bring together all of the people from across different sectors. Whether its different industry sectors, whether it's NGOs, whether it's government, whether it's science and research, they all have lessons to learn from each other."