3mn read, my brief notes back from the G7

I was invited to sit at the table of the G7 meeting in Biarritz yesterday, as part of a discussion on pressing people and planet topics. Without sharing the full discussion, I thought I would share the minutes of my short address to the Heads of States. My words are few but I am sharing them because we need everyone to act, not just government leaders, if we are to make a change. 

"Your Excellencies, dear Leaders, 

Among all facets of the environment challenges that we face, biodiversity is clearly the least advanced in terms of a coordinated response, despite a hugely growing public awareness, none of the major 2010 UN COP targets for 2020 will be met. Animal and vegetal species disappear every day, and yet from pollination of plants to effluent water treatment, from seed climate adaptation to soil health and organic matter, those species, sometimes invisible, are bringing huge ecosystem services to humankind. We have completely neglected this. In a nutshell, nature works for us every day, and we are destroying this workforce. Today humans only rely on 12 plants for 75% of their food. This is nonsense. The focus on only a few cultivated species is a huge systemic risk for our food system. Restoring natural and cultivated biodiversity is our lifeline.

 As we prepare to set biodiversity targets for 2030 next year, we think this needs to change. And agriculture and nature-based solutions are critical to tackle these issues. We are therefor currently building a global business movement for biodiversity, which will be launched next month at the UN General Assembly week. It will gather large companies from the G7 countries and beyond, with the aim of creating tipping points.

 We need your help and support, as political leaders, in two ways: 

• rebalance government subsidies to develop alternative natural solutions focusing on soil heath, amongst others via regenerative agriculture, while disincentivizing intensive use of chemical inputs 
• create a soil-carbon market, which would work better than the Kyoto Protocol for heavy industries emissions, in order to foster the transition towards regenerative agriculture, relying more on the work of nature. 

Having said this: for the last 20 years, I have spent a lot of time in farming fields all around the world - Asia, Africa, Latin and North America, Europe. The one most important learning I took away from this : we will not tackle planet issues without tackling the most pressing people issues in our world, and vice versa. Deforestation, for instance, will never be solved without supporting family farmers in changing their revenue model.

This is why I want to thank OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria for his support, during your meeting yesterday, of the Business for Inclusive Growth (B4IG) initiative, spearheaded by the French Presidency of G7. B4IG is not yet at a tipping point, but with a combined $1 trillion in sales of its member companies and already €1bn committed to innovative inclusive business models (which will be expanded via the B4IG incubator), it can move the needle in some important areas, for farmers and workers in your countries and beyond. And we can learn from this. 

Moreover, to be truly transformative, we need more financial innovation, finance for impact. All our members are doing business in all your countries. So we are also looking forward to engaging with your governments about innovative, budget-efficient ways of financing social and climate built-in business solutions for the future.  

You can count on our support, and we are convinced your support is a game changer. Thank you for your leadership."