Kofi Annan and Dame Ellen MacArthur Talk Sustainable Agricultural Solutions at FFA2017

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Monday, 03 April 2017

Last week was a busy week for the Sustainability Consult Team. Alongside World Bio Markets in Amsterdam, we also attended the 10th Forum for the Future of Agriculture (FFA) in Brussels. Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Dame Ellen McArthur gave two inspiring keynote speeches on how to sustainably feed the world’s growing population using regenerative practices.

In the opening address, Annan emphasised the need to produce more food with fewer resources. He said, “Global population growth could increase the demand for food by 50% by 2050. But our planetary boundaries are reaching their limits.”

“We need bold leadership if we expect to witness sustainable changes, but we also need peace, inclusive development and respect for human rights to move towards these changes,” concluded Annan.

Dame Ellen MacArthur, Founder of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, introduced the Foundation’s new scoping paper, Urban Biocycles, which was produced in collaboration with the World Economic Forum. Highlighting the significant volume of organic waste flowing through the urban environment, the new paper explores how to capture its value.

Dame MacArthur also announced the bioeconomy as the next focus area for her Foundation. She offered a positive endorsement of the sector and said, “Bio is a field we have not studied yet, but which holds massive potential.”