The Climate of Business #40: The unfolding food crisis - an opportunity for the agri sector to change for good?

A week of madness and sadness.

To discuss this and beyond, join me next week at the Plan A's event?Sustainability Encounters , the first edition of a networking event series for sustainability professionals and enthusiasts. Event will take place on July 7 at 7pm in Berlin. The event series will travel Europe over the coming months. Next up: Paris. A few tickets left.

Climate Change Reality

Rare ‘triple’ La Ni?a climate event looks likely — what does the future hold? (Nature )

The farmers restoring Hawaii’s ancient food forests that once fed an island (The Guardian )

Climate migration pushes Bangladesh’s megacity to the brink (Bloomberg )

Global warming causes fewer tropical cyclones (Scientific American )

As climate change threatens mounting urban costs, is biomimicry the way forward? (Forbes )

Wind farm, environmentalists agree on ways to protect whales (AP News )

In Ecuador's Amazon, solar panels bring 'fire canoe' dream to life (Thomson Reuters Foundation )

Swamps can protect against climate change, if we only let them (The New Yorker )

Rare birds’ arrival an ‘unmissable sign’ climate emergency has reached Britain (The Guardian )

BP data show world embraced fossil fuels again after COVID slump (Bloomberg )

Business Climate Reality

After fractious debate, EU Parliament votes to back "biggest ever" carbon market overhaul (Reuters )

EU ministers approve landmark climate measures, but tough talks await (Politico Pro )

If we are to have a future, climate justice needs a legal footing (Aljazeera )

For India’s and Japan’s green ambitions, the heat is on (The Wall Street Journal )

The biggest myths about gas prices (Vox )

Prices triple in Brazil's lopsided market for carbon credits (Bloomberg )

The Hottest Investor in renewables is a big oil producer (The Wall Street Journal )

NextEra's critics question costs and conservation goals in zero carbon plan (Politico Pro )

Airlines powered by a sustainable fuel remains a distant goal (The New York Times )

Reality Check

Ever since humans became sedentary, agriculture has become a crucial part of our living. Food is sustenance and feeding a growing population has always been an ever evolving issue.

But given the current economic, social and environmental challenges, agriculture will have to evolve as it has never had before. Welcome to the next frontier!?

Challenges for modern agriculture

Demographics

• Boost in demographics equals increased in demand
• Satisfy consumers’ changing tastes and expectations
• Meet rising demand for more food of higher quality

Climate change

• Climate change is changing the variables previously stable
• Increasing temperatures, weather variability, frequent extreme weather events which lead to:
• Shifting agro-ecosystem boundaries
• Soil erosion
• Biodiversity loss
• Invasive crops and pests
• Leading to loss of yield

Scarcity of natural resources and food waste?

Challenges related to the agricultural sector are intertwined. Not only is there food shortage, but also an inefficient gap in the market related to food distribution and waste.

• Only 12% of world’s land can be used for farming
• Current uses of natural resources are highly stressed
• 84% of crop species in the European Union depend at least partly on pollination by wildlife
• 1/3 of food produced globally is either lost or wasted - Food waste is a side effect of modernisations and accessibility

Economic stress & Challenges to the farming job

• Lower sales volumes have pressured margins, exacerbating the need for farmers to contain costs further.
• Gridlocked global supply chains have highlighted the importance of having more local providers, which could increase the resilience of smaller farms.?
• 180,000 people leave rural areas communities everyday to live in cities
• 80% food for the developing world is produced by smallholders

Agriculture’s own impact on the environment

• Farming uses 70% of the world’s fresh water
• Contribution of 19–29% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions

How to achieve a vision for a better agricultural sector without damaging it even more??

World Bank 2020 started to focus its finance (52%) in agriculture and also targeted climate adaptation and mitigation, via climate-smart agriculture (CSA) with a triple goal.

• Increased productivity?
• Enhanced resilience
• Reduced emissions

The solutions that are supported by this financing are a mix of existing solutions and technological innovations.

Already Implemented Solutions

• Breeding livestock for greater tolerance and productivity + improving animal conditions
• Use of adapted crops
• Precision fertilisation and spraying applications with drones
• Modification of crops calendars - crop diversification and rotation
• Sustainable productions in greenhouse
• Efficient irrigation
• Agroforestry
• Agricultural Biotechnology

Smart Solutions: AI, analytics, connected sensors, and other emerging technologies?

• Sensors for soil scanning and water, light, humidity and temperature management.
• Track properties such as mineral content and porosity.
• Can monitor moisture levels at multiple depths.
• Indicate nutrient content and how it changes in response to the application of fertiliser.

Carbon Price

I'll be at Plan A's new event?Sustainability Encounters ?on July 7 at 7pm in Berlin-Mitte. Join me for an evening of networking, drinks, talks, solutions and more! Get your free ticket now!