Circular Economy and Food Learning Series

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00:04 Morning,

00:04 good afternoon and good evening

00:07 to the hundreds of participants who are joining us today from around the globe.

00:11 My name is Nidal Mahmud.

00:13 I'm a senior consultant with the World Bank Group

00:16 working on what we call green competitiveness.

00:19 I'd like to welcome you all to the 10th session

00:21 of our learning series

00:22 on the circular economy and private sector development.

00:26 Today we'll be focusing on the circular

00:27 economy of the food and agriculture sectors,

00:30 what that means,

00:31 what's been done,

00:32 and how we might be able to accelerate the transition

00:35 with well designed

00:36 and innovative interventions along the value chain.

00:39 So previous sessions from this learning series have covered topics

00:43 ranging from textiles and plastics,

00:45 digital economies,

00:47 finance,

00:47 tourism.

00:48 Eco-industrial parks and others.

00:51 So in case you weren't able to join any of our previous sessions

00:54 or are new to this series,

00:56 recordings from all previous webinars are available

00:59 at our dedicated website,

01:01 worldbank.org/circular Economy Series.

01:11 As we begin,

01:12 I'd like to quickly run through the agenda for today.

01:15 Um,

01:16 as you'll see,

01:16 we have a fantastic set of experts and speakers

01:19 who'll be introducing,

01:21 who I'll be introducing in detail a little bit later.

01:24 We'll hear opening remarks from the

01:25 World Bank's global director covering environment,

01:27 natural resources,

01:29 and the blue economy.

01:31 After that,

01:31 we'll hear a presentation

01:33 that will give us a much clearer understanding

01:35 of what constitutes a circular food system,

01:37 why it's so critical that we make the transition,

01:40 and what that will mean for business

01:42 and food waste broadly.

01:44 The panel discussion will leverage the various perspectives of key actors

01:48 along the food value chain,

01:49 from waste to manufacturing and policymaking.

01:52 We'll hear from practitioners,

01:54 organizers,

01:54 and academics

01:55 who work at the city scale across regions

01:58 and the world at large.

02:00 If you,

02:00 the audience,

02:01 ask questions,

02:02 please use the Q&A function

02:04 to post them.

02:05 We'll try to cover as many

02:07 as possible

02:08 in the open Q&A session.

02:10 A little bit later on.

02:11 Finally,

02:12 we'll also be hearing closing remarks from the World Bank's

02:14 senior manager overseeing the work we do

02:17 in food

02:18 and agriculture.

02:27 OK.

02:28 Um,

02:29 finally,

02:29 before giving the word to Doctor Kemper,

02:32 I'd like to thank my colleagues,

02:33 Claudia Serrano,

02:34 Nayyun Xin,

02:35 Ernesto Sanchez Triana,

02:37 Etienne Casian,

02:38 and others from our communications and IT teams

02:41 who have helped us put this together.

02:42 With that said,

02:43 I'd like to introduce our very first speaker.

02:45 Uh,

02:46 Dr.

02:46 Karen Kemper,

02:47 with more than 25 years of experience and several roles at the World Bank Group,

02:51 Karen serves as the global director for the Environment,

02:54 Natural Resources,

02:56 and Blue Economy Global Practice.

02:58 An institutional economist,

03:00 she has published extensively on the economics of water resource management

03:04 and has led studies on natural resources

03:07 and environmental management

03:08 worldwide.

03:10 Karen,

03:10 the floor is all yours.

03:17 Thank you very much,

03:19 uh,

03:19 Nidal,

03:20 and good morning and good afternoon and perhaps good evening,

03:25 everyone,

03:26 and very much welcome to the 10th session

03:29 of the learning series on circular economy

03:32 and private sector development.

03:35 The objective of this session is to get

03:38 a better understanding of how the private sector

03:42 can help accelerate the world's transition to a circular economy.

03:47 The focus of the session will be on two sectors,

03:50 as you know,

03:51 agriculture and on the food industry.

03:55 So today,

03:56 we will hear from the several experts that

03:59 uh Nidal has already introduced and who we are

04:02 extremely happy that you all are joining.

04:05 Um,

04:05 to hear from the experts,

04:07 um,

04:08 um,

04:08 who will share their experience,

04:09 what their companies are doing,

04:11 their companies and

04:13 organizations

04:13 to ensure circularity from reducing food losses and waste

04:18 to implementing regenerative agricultural systems.

04:24 The food industry

04:25 is a crucial player in supporting the transition to a circular economy.

04:30 However,

04:31 current practices throughout the value chain of food

04:35 have resulted in enormous amounts of food loss and waste.

04:39 Just

04:40 to give you an idea,

04:42 every year,

04:43 approximately 1.3 billion tons,

04:46 or one third of the food produced for human consumption worldwide

04:51 is actually wasted.

04:53 And the agri-food industry also results in high water and carbon footprints,

04:58 and it's estimated

05:00 that about 25% of GHG emissions globally

05:04 come from the food sector alone.

05:07 Likewise,

05:08 agriculture is considered a major driver of

05:11 biodiversity and ecosystem services loss worldwide.

05:15 It's responsible for 66%

05:18 of threats to species,

05:20 and intensive agriculture practices significantly contribute

05:25 to the 39 million hectares of soil

05:28 that are degraded each year globally.

05:31 Also,

05:31 it requires approximately 70% of global freshwater.

05:36 So applying circular economy approaches to the food sector

05:41 can reduce food waste

05:43 and result in positive impacts at the economic,

05:47 social,

05:47 and environmental levels.

05:49 For example,

05:50 circular economy approaches that reduce food loss and waste

05:55 even by a relatively small share of 25%

05:59 could help us feed about.

06:00 870 million people.

06:03 And of course with uh global population rising,

06:07 this is absolutely necessary,

06:09 but we can also see that it can be done

06:12 and that uh there are ways to do that and this is part of what we'll hear today.

06:17 So to achieve such circularity,

06:20 the engagement of the different sectors,

06:22 including the private sector will be needed.

06:25 Regenerative food production systems can be

06:28 implemented through the adoption of techniques

06:31 that will replenish and improve the overall outcome of,

06:35 um,

06:35 ecosys of ecosystem health.

06:38 And at the same time,

06:40 they can preserve air and water quality

06:43 such as shifting from synthetic to organic fertilizers.

06:48 Investments in infrastructure and technology to optimize processes

06:53 such as

06:53 Irrigation systems and technologies for the preservation of food

06:58 will also be needed.

06:59 The participation of the private sector in ensuring such investments,

07:04 including the promotion of credits for farmers,

07:07 will be very beneficial.

07:09 Value-added products and byproducts,

07:11 including pharmaceuticals,

07:13 biofuels,

07:14 and vitamins,

07:15 can be created from food loss and waste

07:18 with the adoption of cutting edge technology.

07:22 Providing information

07:23 on what is being wasted and why,

07:26 and how to interpret labeling,

07:28 how to store food to maximize life

07:31 and other food waste prevention tips can

07:34 effectively encourage civil society to act.

07:37 And collaboration and association among groups of

07:40 small farmers to offer larger amounts of food

07:43 can improve access to markets,

07:46 can also encourage companies

07:48 to share

07:49 space on lorries to maximize the amount of produce that's carried.

07:54 So achieving a climate-friendly economy by 2050 is expected to

07:59 result in about 6 million new jobs being created worldwide,

08:03 with economic growth increasing

08:06 by 0.8%

08:08 just through these measures.

08:09 And circular economy policies can have

08:12 positive employment effects in developing countries

08:16 that revolve around waste management.

08:18 In the informal but also increasingly

08:21 in the formal sectors.

08:23 For example,

08:24 remanufacturing and repair of products require more

08:28 labor than manufacturing from raw materials.

08:31 And in addition,

08:32 circular approaches can promote economic growth by

08:36 saving material costs and tackle food insecurity

08:40 in vulnerable populations.

08:42 And transitioning to circular economy will

08:45 also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 48%

08:49 by 2030.

08:51 Um,

08:52 sounds pretty much like a win-win to me,

08:54 if you ask me.

08:56 So this session of the learning series

08:59 will shed light on the loopholes,

09:01 strengths,

09:02 and priorities that must be addressed to ensure

09:04 circularity in the food and agricultural sectors.

09:08 I hope it will be useful in supporting our climate.

09:11 in the decision

09:12 and implementation of effective interventions

09:16 to build the foundation for a circular economy

09:19 and a more prosperous future.

09:21 I very much look forward to hearing from today's participants

09:25 and to partnering closely with all of you

09:27 on this very impactful issue.

09:30 Thank you very much.

09:33 Thank you so much,

09:34 Doctor uh Doctor Kemper,

09:36 um,

09:36 for introducing the topic.

09:37 I'd like to now

09:43 I'd like to now um

09:45 dig a little bit deeper

09:46 into what it means to talk about circular food systems.

09:50 And for that,

09:50 I'd like to very briefly introduce Doctor Marianne Thompson,

09:53 who will be presenting the general landscape

09:55 for restorative food systems

09:57 and educate us on some of the key

09:59 issues that we'll undoubtedly come back to

10:02 throughout the panel discussion.

10:03 Um,

10:04 just a quick note,

10:05 I am using abbreviated bios,

10:07 but we have everyone's extended bios on the dedicated website,

10:10 which again

10:12 is worldbank.org/circular Economyseries.

10:16 So,

10:16 Doctor Marianne Thompson is a professor

10:19 in industrial ecology.

10:21 At Ahaus University,

10:23 specializing in developing integrated sustainability assessment models

10:27 with focus on circular resource management systems

10:30 using circular regenerative

10:32 economic principles.

10:33 She's currently working on two relevant ongoing projects

10:36 with the European Commission

10:38 on the topics of reducing

10:39 food waste and loss and validation

10:42 of urban bioaste.

10:44 Um.

10:45 Doctor Thompson,

10:46 if you would like to begin,

10:48 I'm going to stop sharing my screen.

10:51 And

10:52 give you the opportunity to share yours.

10:54 Thank you very much.

10:56 Thank you,

10:56 Niel,

10:57 and thanks for inviting.

11:00 So

11:00 I will share my screen.

11:23 Oops.

11:36 So does everybody see my,

11:38 the correct view here?

11:39 Yes,

11:39 Marianne looks great.

11:41 Please go ahead.

11:41 Yes,

11:41 thank you.

11:42 Thank you.

11:43 OK,

11:43 so my name is Marianne Sampson from Ohhu University,

11:46 and today I'm going to present some of the very complicated

11:50 issues of,

11:51 uh,

11:51 regenerative circular food systems.

11:55 Parts of it at least.

11:56 So as Nita told you,

11:57 we're working on two projects related to uh circular food systems for the moment.

12:02 Uh,

12:02 the one

12:03 called decisive decentralized valization of

12:06 food waste in urban areas,

12:09 which is almost uh ending,

12:10 ending in September.

12:12 And then we started up this new uh European project where

12:16 we look from farm to fork on um how to reduce,

12:19 uh,

12:19 food waste and how to

12:21 uh

12:22 identify new solutions for more

12:24 resilient,

12:25 uh,

12:25 food supply uh value food,

12:27 food

12:28 supply chain.

12:30 So,

12:31 uh,

12:31 let me just go through.

12:32 So the situation around our food,

12:35 global food systems today,

12:36 as we have heard is,

12:38 um,

12:39 I

12:39 want to see if it reacts.

12:41 Yes.

12:43 So we see that we have these uh grand societal challenges,

12:46 as everybody knows,

12:47 and food systems is a,

12:49 is a,

12:49 a key driver of uh the,

12:52 the pushing of the planetary boundaries and,

12:54 and,

12:55 um

12:57 Hence the structure and function of our ecosystems which

13:01 we depend upon and therefore,

13:03 we urgently need to transform our

13:06 food production and supply systems into something more

13:09 uh restorative uh by design.

13:12 So how do we do that?

13:14 Um,

13:14 well,

13:15 first of all,

13:16 I think we can skip this quite,

13:18 uh,

13:18 quickly,

13:19 but,

13:19 uh,

13:19 the,

13:20 the,

13:20 the agri-food systems,

13:21 I think Karen already told us is,

13:23 uh,

13:24 is,

13:24 has resulted in anthropogenic,

13:26 uh,

13:26 nutrient flows that exceeds the regulatory capacity of,

13:30 of the,

13:31 the earth,

13:31 and we have,

13:32 we see land use changes,

13:33 we see,

13:34 uh,

13:35 that,

13:35 that disturbs also the global biophysical climate regulation,

13:39 deforestation,

13:40 so on.

13:41 And this whole

13:44 situation calls for

13:47 Uh,

13:47 circular solutions that mimics nature in the way that

13:51 brings the economy back inside the safe operating space of

13:56 For humanity.

13:57 As,

13:59 uh,

13:59 also

14:00 explained by Roxstraum and uh uh his uh colleagues in many papers.

14:06 And

14:08 If we start to look at the amount of food that is wasted,

14:11 uh,

14:12 if it was a country,

14:13 it would have been the 3rd biggest emitter of CO2,

14:16 and with it also goes a lot of,

14:18 uh,

14:19 wasted

14:20 water

14:20 and cropland.

14:21 So this is not sustainable at all,

14:23 and we all know that the

14:25 Paris Agreement and the uh global sustainable Development Goal

14:29 123 is um supposed to bring us to half,

14:33 halving this amount of food

14:35 waste and loss by 2030.

14:37 And

14:38 you almost would say that this was not ambitious because we've heard it's,

14:42 it's a lot of food that we waste.

14:44 Um,

14:45 so where is this food waste actually generated?

14:49 There's differences.

14:50 So it seems like there are actually enough food for,

14:53 for all people on Earth at the moment,

14:56 but

14:57 The global food supply system has um

15:00 Um,

15:01 How to say,

15:02 things that need to be corrected.

15:03 So in the global south,

15:05 we mainly see half of the food waste in the primary sector

15:10 and in the global north,

15:11 it's mainly um

15:13 oversupply and demand and,

15:15 and,

15:16 and excess production of food waste in the

15:19 post-consumer part of the food supply chain.

15:23 So these inequalities,

15:24 uh,

15:25 or

15:26 not so well matching,

15:28 uh,

15:28 supply and demand of food for people globally,

15:31 um,

15:32 is one of the big problems.

15:35 Uh,

15:35 if we want to reduce food waste,

15:37 uh,

15:37 and loss,

15:38 we need to know the,

15:40 the

15:41 Hotspots of their production

15:44 or generation.

15:46 So as we heard,

15:46 we have in total 1.3 billion tons of edible food that are wasted,

15:51 uh,

15:51 and this

15:53 numbers out here,

15:54 uh,

15:55 to the left,

15:55 you can see that,

15:56 that,

15:57 uh,

15:58 the efficiency of our food systems is not very high.

16:01 Actually,

16:02 we lose up to

16:04 Yeah,

16:04 a lot.

16:05 Um

16:06 So if we look at one of the

16:09 more interesting,

16:10 to my opinion,

16:11 er,

16:12 er.

16:13 Categories of food,

16:14 the fruit and vegetables.

16:16 Uh,

16:16 if we look into the

16:17 supply chain here,

16:19 production and supply chain,

16:20 then we see some patterns.

16:22 We see that uh at the processing,

16:24 uh,

16:24 food processing stage,

16:26 we are very good in the north of,

16:28 uh,

16:29 local north,

16:30 but in the global south,

16:31 uh,

16:32 we have a,

16:33 a

16:33 huge amount of,

16:34 of losses here.

16:37 Oppositely,

16:38 as also shown on the last slide,

16:40 uh,

16:41 we have uh

16:43 50% of our food waste in the,

16:45 in the northern

16:46 part of the world is from post-consumption

16:49 service sectors.

16:51 So,

16:52 you might even say that maybe we have a food waste supply chain

16:56 as much as we have a food supply chain.

17:00 And this of course needs to change.

17:02 So in my research group,

17:03 um,

17:05 we have been looking into this in uh in,

17:07 in,

17:08 in the last 4 or 5 years.

17:11 And the outcomes,

17:12 uh,

17:13 is,

17:13 uh,

17:13 the key issue,

17:15 uh,

17:15 we believe to make a strong,

17:18 uh,

17:18 sustainable circular economy.

17:20 We need to

17:22 prevent,

17:23 uh,

17:24 rebound effects.

17:24 So we need to,

17:25 to not create a new food waste-based,

17:28 uh,

17:28 bio refinery systems or circular economy that demands food waste.

17:33 And to avoid that,

17:35 we need to know which kind of foods

17:38 we have and what is

17:41 the

17:42 Inedible and unavoidable fractions that are not suitable for,

17:47 for human consumption,

17:48 um,

17:49 uh,

17:49 because that would be the

17:51 secure supply for uh a strong circular economy

17:56 where we can produce high value um

17:58 bio-based products from,

18:00 from

18:01 the fractions that are not intended for human consumption.

18:05 So therefore,

18:06 we came up with these 4 different categories of food waste.

18:11 Edible food waste is reflected.

18:14 The surplus food is,

18:16 is what we see

18:17 in

18:18 The two upstream and downstream parts of the

18:22 food supply chain is what we need to solve.

18:25 Of the inedible parts,

18:26 especially the natural inedible

18:29 and the processing waste is,

18:31 uh,

18:32 that are inedible is what could feed into future biorefineries.

18:36 So we did this,

18:37 uh,

18:38 priority and uh of,

18:39 of,

18:40 of feedstocks that

18:41 could feed into,

18:42 uh,

18:43 closing the loop of food waste in a sustainable way.

18:46 This discriminating between what should be recycled for human

18:52 consumption and what can actually be used for high value

18:57 products,

18:57 production

18:58 of bio-based products that could replace fossil-based

19:01 products thereby also contributing to resiliency.

19:05 So if we look at these two high priority,

19:07 uh,

19:08 um,

19:09 fractions or categories of food waste,

19:11 we can,

19:12 we,

19:13 we did some reviews and if we look at the

19:15 uh food processing,

19:17 um,

19:18 industries,

19:19 so prior to the consumer stage,

19:21 uh,

19:22 one example could just be citric acids that can be extracted from

19:27 different inedible parts of,

19:29 of foods

19:30 and vegetables as shown here.

19:33 And this,

19:34 uh,

19:34 biochemical is manufactured already in 2 million tons per year,

19:39 and,

19:39 and,

19:39 and the

19:40 CO2 footprint of,

19:42 of this,

19:43 more

19:43 green chemistry produced

19:45 biba citric acid is,

19:47 um,

19:48 would,

19:48 would,

19:49 uh,

19:49 indeed contribute to a lower CO2 footprint of this platform chemical.

19:54 If we go to the other end of the value chain,

19:57 the post-consumer food.

19:59 We thought for the sake of awareness,

20:01 it would be nice to see where the food waste actually has value.

20:05 So here we also looked into which type of compounds could be produced from mixed,

20:09 uh,

20:10 food waste from households.

20:13 Um,

20:13 and,

20:13 uh,

20:14 some of the platform chemicals,

20:16 uh,

20:16 here is,

20:17 uh,

20:17 is,

20:17 uh,

20:18 platform chemicals for bioplastics.

20:20 And as you can see,

20:21 the value on the Y axis shows the euros,

20:25 uh,

20:25 value in euros per ton of dry weight organic fraction of municipal solid waste.

20:31 Then we have um

20:33 a biopestticide here which has a,

20:35 a very high value

20:37 and we have different types of enzymes

20:39 that could produced from solid-state fermentation.

20:42 And this is just

20:43 illustrative for what

20:44 could be unfolded in terms of closing the loop of the,

20:48 the biological

20:49 um part of,

20:51 of this uh circular economy framework.

20:53 So this one,

20:54 I think all of you know,

20:55 see it in MacArthur butterfly visualization.

20:58 The issue here is that we have actually had a waste,

21:01 uh,

21:02 framework directive and a circular economy uh regulate directive for,

21:07 for many years and we have,

21:09 uh,

21:09 unfolded all of these,

21:11 uh,

21:11 circular loops and the smaller the loops,

21:13 the less of the footprint.

21:16 As also told by Karen,

21:17 but if we look at the biological part,

21:20 the biological nutrients,

21:22 um,

21:23 loop,

21:23 it's not

21:24 very well,

21:25 uh,

21:25 unfolded yet.

21:27 And this is what we looked into in our research.

21:32 The idea is that we should keep

21:34 all of our materials at the highest level of

21:38 complexity and value and not degrade uh and lose uh

21:42 value uh as we did in the linear economy.

21:46 So

21:47 We already know that there are hundreds and

21:49 even more compounds that could be valorized from,

21:53 from,

21:54 um,

21:54 the suitable fractions of,

21:55 of food waste.

21:58 So,

21:59 um,

22:00 this,

22:00 er.

22:02 Waste Framework Directive,

22:03 we designed it and innovated it a little bit,

22:06 uh,

22:06 looking at the food waste pyramid.

22:09 And it's what is especially here is that

22:12 We have uh this material cycle step which fits,

22:16 especially what I just showed you,

22:18 um,

22:19 or talked about the inedible parts of,

22:22 uh,

22:22 food,

22:23 banana peels,

22:24 apple peels,

22:24 uh,

22:25 things that are inedible.

22:27 Those parts of our food waste actually contains high value

22:31 and could be a huge opportunity for future circular businesses.

22:36 But also,

22:37 we need to move up the waste hierarchy and make sure

22:40 that we divert our food waste away from the existing,

22:44 uh,

22:44 mixed,

22:45 um,

22:45 municipal,

22:46 um,

22:47 waste,

22:48 uh,

22:48 management systems

22:50 to keep the quality as high as possible,

22:52 but also to

22:54 recycle,

22:54 um,

22:55 biological,

22:56 um,

22:56 molecules at the highest level of complexity.

22:59 And this,

23:00 uh,

23:01 uh,

23:01 we

23:02 Unfolded um

23:04 by uh researching into

23:06 the possibility for

23:09 doing uh cascade utilization in Byron refineries of these different um

23:15 Um,

23:15 fractions of,

23:16 of unavoidable and

23:18 inedible,

23:19 uh,

23:20 food waste.

23:20 So the green parts,

23:22 as shown on the former slide is still for reuse.

23:25 All of the circles here are localized and decentralized and why?

23:29 And that's probably a challenge for the future businesses,

23:32 but we need to reorganize a little bit our systems because food is,

23:36 uh,

23:36 easily degradable.

23:38 And if you want to create high value from food

23:42 processing side streams,

23:43 you need to,

23:44 um,

23:45 To valorize them before uh the feedstock degrades.

23:49 So industrial ecology is one of the main principles here

23:54 and it's a short chained um.

23:58 Polarization systems that are needed.

24:01 Some example,

24:02 um,

24:03 yeah.

24:05 Edible food should be redistributed in the right way.

24:09 How to do that,

24:10 uh,

24:10 we need to figure it out,

24:11 but it seems like the global food system has,

24:14 uh,

24:16 Too long distances and at least food is not provided in the places where it's needed.

24:22 So of course,

24:23 uh,

24:23 food should be redistributed to human beings in need

24:27 and uh other uh inedible parts

24:31 inherently from the beginning,

24:32 for example,

24:33 uh,

24:34 bones and and um.

24:36 And residues from slaughtery could be reused at this lower picture here.

24:41 Danish company called Darker,

24:44 um,

24:44 hemoglobin,

24:45 um,

24:45 blood from,

24:46 from slaughtery,

24:47 waste and bones and uh,

24:49 can be reused of.

24:52 As in reuse,

24:53 so it's a small cycle

24:55 and as uh some of these residues contains,

24:57 for example,

24:58 proteins,

24:59 it can be reused for feed.

25:02 On the other side,

25:03 we have in most of our

25:07 uh non-animal products,

25:09 uh,

25:09 could be also rice paddy here,

25:10 you see blackberries.

25:12 Half of the,

25:14 the product is actually inedible and for black rice,

25:17 we have,

25:17 um,

25:19 high-value component as an example.

25:21 Uh,

25:22 anti-cyanins that has,

25:23 uh,

25:23 it's a bioactive purple pigment that had really high value and is health improving.

25:29 So for that part,

25:30 it fits into the

25:31 recycling of material of high complexity and high value,

25:36 high economic value.

25:38 And the,

25:38 the last example I want to give is again,

25:40 the bioplastics.

25:41 So for some of these inedible fractions of food,

25:45 um,

25:46 if we have the

25:47 correct

25:48 food waste management system can actually be used for,

25:51 for also non-food material recycling and in this case,

25:56 bioplastic.

25:58 Um,

25:59 yeah,

25:59 as we saw formerly,

26:01 also cereals has,

26:02 uh,

26:03 cereals has in general a big fraction of inedible material that can be,

26:07 uh,

26:08 feedstock for,

26:09 for,

26:09 um,

26:10 solid state fermentation and,

26:12 and,

26:12 uh,

26:13 result in the production of high value,

26:15 um.

26:16 Enzymes,

26:17 uh,

26:18 so this is,

26:20 is an

26:21 unexplored,

26:22 um,

26:24 opportunity

26:25 for future businesses

26:27 and it's not competing with,

26:29 um,

26:30 food because it's inedible by

26:33 nature from the very beginning.

26:35 Um,

26:35 the examples I've shown you is already existing,

26:38 um.

26:40 Uh,

26:41 chemicals on the market.

26:43 In this case,

26:43 it's just bio-based and it's green chemistry and it's low footprint.

26:48 Um,

26:49 products or ingredients that can substitute the existing

26:52 emission intensive fossil industry to some extent,

26:55 and it's a huge market.

26:58 So,

26:58 let's move to the

27:00 food waste part of the food waste hierarchy and into

27:03 the decisive project just to show you also uh that um

27:08 the

27:08 post-consumer uh food waste generation is high in cities

27:13 because there's a high population density in cities and for the moment,

27:17 it's above 50% of the population of the world that lives in big cities.

27:23 Or is it even higher

27:24 and expected to increase even further.

27:27 So what do we do about all this uh post-consumer waste?

27:32 Well,

27:32 uh,

27:33 this is what we looked into in the European project called Decisive.

27:37 So we looked at the cities as,

27:39 um,

27:40 Seeing them as,

27:41 as seeing the city as such in the beginning as a

27:44 kind of parasite that feeds on its surro surroundings like the,

27:48 the linear economy actually.

27:49 So it imports food and energy and produces a lot of waste.

27:52 So what we did in this project is that we looked at

27:55 how we could uh introduce organizational innovation,

27:59 also technology innovations and identify

28:02 new policy instruments that could support

28:04 the change of the urban metabolism into something

28:08 more healthy and self-sustaining.

28:10 So what we did is that we identified the

28:13 bio waste producers or generators inside of the city.

28:16 And,

28:16 uh,

28:17 those bio waste was collected separately and

28:21 brought to a network of microanaerobic digesters,

28:24 which is connected

28:26 to

28:27 solid-state fermentation technologies that can produce bio-based products

28:31 as I already showed you in my presentation.

28:33 And those bio-based products can feed back into urban farms.

28:37 For example,

28:38 the billo uh,

28:39 the,

28:39 the biopesticide,

28:41 um,

28:42 Which has a very high value can replace um

28:45 Um,

28:46 conventional insecticides and,

28:48 uh,

28:49 also,

28:50 uh,

28:50 we can have food waste-based,

28:51 um,

28:52 fertilizers into feeding into the urban farms,

28:56 but also the per and extra urban area.

28:58 And in this way,

28:59 we have short chained production of local fresh food

29:03 that can be placed in import of uh long-distance uh transported,

29:07 um,

29:07 vegetables.

29:09 It corresponds only to around 10% of the,

29:12 of the green,

29:13 uh,

29:14 vegetable demand in cities,

29:16 but it's,

29:16 it's still,

29:17 uh,

29:17 a huge change in terms of food waste reduction and,

29:21 uh,

29:21 uh,

29:21 resiliency of urban societies.

29:25 From the ADB,

29:26 of course,

29:26 also have still supplying energy

29:28 and yeah,

29:29 the food waste disappears.

29:32 So this is a,

29:34 a,

29:34 a,

29:35 a

29:35 very beneficial and uh example of how,

29:39 uh,

29:40 human systems can be transformed and mimic natural systems.

29:44 So for the food waste-based,

29:45 uh,

29:46 fertilizers,

29:47 just to give you the principles,

29:49 here we have our ecosystem services that are

29:52 threatened by the

29:53 planetary boundary situation.

29:55 So,

29:56 in our cities,

29:57 we have this food waste,

29:58 uh,

29:59 We collect it in a way that it has.

30:03 Only

30:04 minor

30:05 impurities,

30:06 so it's high-quality biofertilizers that we return to soil.

30:10 Also in the farming areas outside the city,

30:12 so it's also an urban,

30:14 um,

30:15 rural symbiosis,

30:16 you could say.

30:17 So this bio-fertilizer increases the carbon in agricultural soils,

30:22 uh,

30:22 which

30:23 are degrading,

30:24 so it restores,

30:25 uh,

30:26 this kind of soil carbon sequestration.

30:29 Of high quality,

30:30 therefore supporting soil biodiversity and soil biodiversity is,

30:35 as you might know,

30:36 uh,

30:36 making sure of the regulatory

30:39 supporting nutrients

30:40 cycling for the

30:42 For the

30:44 production system.

30:45 Uh,

30:46 microbiology also purifies water and restores our water cycle systems,

30:51 and we can have uh

30:53 healthy food production systems.

30:55 So in this way,

30:56 uh,

30:56 we tap into the new mission of the European Commission,

31:00 the,

31:00 the soil health and food safety issue.

31:03 And we have shown in our project that by separate food,

31:07 uh,

31:07 waste collection,

31:08 we increase the quality of the,

31:10 of the bio-fertilizer significantly.

31:13 We have also shown that this system,

31:16 the whole,

31:16 uh,

31:17 the whole ecosystem of food waste collection,

31:19 urban farming,

31:20 and high,

31:21 uh,

31:21 bio bio-based production,

31:24 including the biocides,

31:27 uh,

31:27 the biopesticides

31:29 can actually be done in a way that the whole system as such is climate neutral.

31:33 So climate negative even.

31:36 Um,

31:37 besides that,

31:38 we also have a lot of other,

31:40 uh,

31:42 benefits from re-greening cities,

31:44 as you can see here.

31:45 So activities related is not only,

31:48 uh,

31:48 nutrient cycling and mimicking nature,

31:50 but it also creates,

31:51 um,

31:52 uh,

31:53 cohesion and,

31:54 uh,

31:55 and,

31:56 and,

31:56 and,

31:57 uh,

31:59 social,

32:00 socio-ecological benefits of many types.

32:04 Um,

32:05 and education at least,

32:06 uh,

32:07 and connects people to the food production system

32:09 and also,

32:10 uh,

32:11 increases awareness about,

32:12 uh,

32:13 the value of food and food waste.

32:17 So,

32:17 to do these systems,

32:19 we need actually to have two systems to work in parallel.

32:22 So we have the existing centralized uh municipal waste management system

32:27 in blue collars here.

32:29 And in green collars,

32:30 we have uh a separate uh bio waste collection uh

32:34 that uh we have to

32:36 make

32:37 co-existing with uh the existing centralized system.

32:41 So we described the system as a,

32:43 as an ecosystem and try to,

32:45 to

32:46 To describe the different actors as part of a,

32:49 of a,

32:49 of a food waste ecosystem.

32:52 And to increase awareness and we also looked into the different,

32:56 uh,

32:58 how do we say,

32:58 enablers and inhibitors of,

33:00 of such uh barriers in such systems and uh

33:03 overall,

33:04 it's,

33:04 it's super complicated and we haven't got so much time here but what we have is that

33:09 all of the existing regulatory tools are actually

33:13 Um,

33:13 they are designed for a linear economy.

33:16 So surrounding these urban

33:18 systems,

33:18 we have a linear economy environment,

33:21 uh,

33:21 and,

33:21 uh,

33:22 inside of that,

33:23 we have,

33:23 uh,

33:24 a circular paradigm

33:26 that connects the different actors of the,

33:28 of the ecosystem

33:30 as a whole and it,

33:31 it creates,

33:32 um,

33:33 robustness because you have secure and supply,

33:36 and you have uh

33:38 This,

33:38 uh,

33:38 industrial ecology principle of one output from the

33:42 one actor is the input from the next,

33:45 next actor,

33:46 and,

33:46 and this circularity,

33:48 kind of,

33:49 uh,

33:49 binds the econo economic exchanges to the local system.

33:55 Uh,

33:56 in addition to all of the,

33:58 the,

33:59 the cope benefits as,

34:00 as we just saw,

34:01 and there's a lot of learning from there.

34:03 So informational exchange is the main,

34:06 uh,

34:06 flow between the linear macro-environment and then the local

34:10 uh urban ecosystem.

34:13 And,

34:13 uh,

34:14 of course,

34:14 then we also have this uh export of,

34:17 uh,

34:17 bio-based,

34:18 um,

34:19 raw materials that,

34:21 that can be connected to global,

34:23 um,

34:24 industrial bio-refineries.

34:26 So,

34:27 we,

34:27 so this is the learning so far from,

34:30 from,

34:30 from,

34:31 from the project here and what we saw is that we need several

34:34 At levels of governance at top down but also bottom up,

34:38 but it's extremely important to have a supportive policy instruments to,

34:43 to uh

34:44 to support these uh local systems.

34:47 And new types of industrial investments

34:50 because actually this nice environment also

34:53 increases tourism and economy potentials of of the citizens in the city.

34:58 So it's,

34:59 it's also a benefit for the

35:01 industrial activity in the cities as such.

35:04 Yeah.

35:04 So we try to,

35:05 to highlight that we need um

35:08 not only to be able to profit from production of products but also

35:13 these um

35:15 restorative services like zero waste,

35:17 climate neutrality,

35:19 um,

35:20 reintroducing,

35:21 uh,

35:22 biodiversity and green spaces.

35:24 So

35:25 This is what we highlight that the non-marketed services is super important and

35:29 no matter if you are a business or if you are a local,

35:32 uh,

35:33 entrepreneur,

35:34 part of this local

35:35 uh non-growth but more equilibrium uh circular economy,

35:40 um,

35:40 that has so many other benefits,

35:42 it's extremely important if we want to bring economic

35:45 activities inside the ecological ceiling of the planetary boundaries

35:49 that we

35:51 internalize these,

35:53 um,

35:53 restorative services.

35:55 Um,

35:56 and for that,

35:56 we need uh multi-criteria in our assessments and we need

36:00 to move away from the focus of single products,

36:03 but we need to address the whole system as such,

36:06 using the whole

36:08 biomass

36:09 at the highest level of value,

36:11 but

36:12 also making sure that there's no trade-offs.

36:16 And so the concluding remarks is that uh with the waste,

36:19 uh,

36:20 food waste pyramid,

36:21 we have

36:22 contributed to more clear definitions and measurements of

36:26 uh food waste generation and food loss also,

36:29 and along the food supply chain,

36:31 we have identified a need for knowledge and technology transfer

36:35 to be able to implement these,

36:37 these local circular food systems globally.

36:40 And uh we see that uh there's a change

36:43 in the uh social and technology readiness level,

36:47 um,

36:47 but then,

36:48 and,

36:48 and this is a key issue for the circular food systems,

36:53 which is much more

36:55 than just growth.

36:56 It's beyond growth.

36:58 Um,

36:58 it's about investment in local,

37:00 um,

37:01 systems.

37:02 It's about,

37:03 uh,

37:03 making sure that prevention is before valorization because the last thing

37:07 we want is to have a new emission intensive bio-based sector.

37:11 So,

37:12 we cannot,

37:13 uh,

37:13 afford having

37:15 food waste and lost being feedstock for further refineries.

37:19 Because we already know how much we lost and how

37:22 much we pushed the planetary boundaries from the existing system.

37:25 So it's only the inedible food waste inside streams

37:28 that should go into processing industries.

37:31 And uh lastly,

37:33 these positive externalities are really key in our opinion,

37:37 um,

37:37 key instruments for increased economic efficiency,

37:41 social equity,

37:42 and uh biosphere resiliency.

37:45 And I think this is it.

37:47 and

37:48 preferences if you want to go into deeper on the last slide,

37:51 and

37:52 thank you.

37:54 Thank you very much,

37:55 Marianne.

37:56 That was an excellent presentation.

37:59 Um,

37:59 I'd like to move ahead

38:02 if you'll allow me to also share my screen.

38:07 Great.

38:07 So,

38:08 thank you,

38:08 Marianne for so succinctly,

38:10 and I say succinctly,

38:11 even though you've passed your time just because it's

38:13 such a complex issue,

38:15 uh,

38:15 there are a lot of challenges,

38:16 there are a lot,

38:17 a lot of opportunities that we need to keep in mind

38:19 when it comes to food waste,

38:20 loss,

38:20 circularity.

38:22 Um,

38:22 I really like the fact that you focused on the business

38:25 of inedible foods

38:26 and for presenting real-world examples on why a circular system is so critical

38:31 and how we might be able to go about it.

38:33 Uh,

38:33 your concluding remarks at the end were also

38:35 incredibly on point.

38:37 So let's make sure to come back to those

38:40 during the discussion today.

38:42 Moving along,

38:42 I'd like to introduce our panel speakers.

38:45 Um,

38:46 again,

38:46 you can see their complete bios

38:48 on the event series dedicated website,

38:50 worldbank.org/circular Economyseries.

38:54 This time,

38:54 we're actually going to have only just one panel

38:57 for all of the speakers,

38:58 so I'll introduce everyone

38:59 and then we can begin

39:01 with the Q&A.

39:02 So James Pronio is the retail systems manager

39:07 on loss and waste

39:08 on the food loss and waste team at the World Wildlife Fund,

39:11 leading the Pacific Coast Collaborative,

39:13 a regional public-private partnership

39:15 focused on the reduction of greenhouse gasses

39:18 and having food waste in the west coast of North America

39:21 by 2030.

39:22 He has more than 15 years of experience

39:24 of operational experience in the sector.

39:27 Doctor Claire Sand is a global packaging leader

39:30 with more than 35 years of experience,

39:33 a broad experience in the food science

39:35 and packaging spectrum.

39:36 She is also the owner and founder of Packaging Technology and Research

39:40 and an adjunct professor at Michigan State University

39:43 and Cal Poly.

39:45 With 17 years of experience at Nestle,

39:47 Yasmine Berbeer is now the head of sustainability in the Middle East

39:51 and North Africa,

39:53 where she's responsible for implementing Nestle's net zero emissions roadmap.

39:57 She's also a member of the Dubai Chamber of Sustainability Network,

40:01 CEO Council of the United Arab Emirates

40:04 Food and Beverage Manufacturers Group,

40:07 and UAE's Coalition of Innovation and Recycling Towards a Closed-loop Economy.

40:13 Steven Otieno

40:14 serves as C40's senior manager,

40:17 supporting C40 cities

40:18 under the CAP Africa program to finalize

40:21 and deliver city climate action plans.

40:23 He previously coordinated C40's food systems work

40:27 in Africa as a regional program manager,

40:30 as well as coordinated the implementation of a donor-funded project

40:33 on urban food systems in East Africa.

40:37 Doctor Francisco Palma is the founder of Poly Natural,

40:41 a company that developed Shell Life,

40:43 100% natural

40:44 plant-based coating

40:46 that reduces fruit waste by controlling dehydration and microorganisms.

40:50 He's a biochemist with 10 years of experience in the field of natural coatings

40:54 and and the use of vegetable raw materials to extend the shelf life

40:58 of fresh food matrices.

41:01 And then finally,

41:02 Ani Vallabahaneni

41:03 is the co-founder of Sannergy,

41:05 a Nairobi-based company that converts collected waste

41:08 into valuable end products such as organic fertilizer

41:12 and insect-based animal feed,

41:14 resulting in increased crop yields,

41:16 and he oversees the expansion of Sannergy's technical operations,

41:20 including engineering and internal systems and processes.

41:23 He holds an MBA

41:24 from MIT Sloan

41:25 and a BSC from Washington University

41:28 in St.

41:29 Louis.

41:29 I've already introduced Dr.

41:30 Maria just before.

41:31 Doctor Marianne Thompson just before her,

41:33 uh her talk.

41:35 So,

41:35 um,

41:36 I'm going to remove this screen

41:38 and then we can

41:40 jump right into the questions.

41:44 Great.

41:45 All right.

41:45 So,

41:46 um,

41:47 This first question is actually a question for several of you.

41:50 So,

41:51 uh,

41:51 James,

41:52 Francisco,

41:52 Claire.

41:54 Um,

41:54 since we're on the topic of food waste,

41:56 uh,

41:56 building on what Marianne has just presented,

41:59 I'm curious,

42:00 based on your experience,

42:01 based on your perspective,

42:03 what can we do better and what are we doing better to tackle food waste

42:08 and food loss?

42:09 And here in this question,

42:10 you know,

42:10 James,

42:11 maybe you could perhaps focus on the perspective

42:13 of small and large food retailers since you work with them quite a bit.

42:17 And Francisco and Claire,

42:19 perhaps you can add your own perspective

42:21 from the packaging perspective,

42:23 focusing on

42:25 some of the more interesting and innovative solutions in the market

42:28 in terms of preventing

42:29 waste or promoting reuse.

42:31 So again,

42:32 what can we do in terms of food waste?

42:34 James,

42:35 maybe you'd like to start us off.

42:37 Sure.

42:38 Uh,

42:39 I think at least from my experience in the retail sector,

42:41 I think it all really comes down to data.

42:45 Um,

42:46 I,

42:46 there's the old adage you can't measure,

42:48 uh,

42:49 you can't,

42:49 I'm sorry,

42:50 manage what you can't measure.

42:51 Um,

42:52 that really comes down to,

42:53 um,

42:55 Taking advantage of the data that's available and making that,

42:58 uh,

42:58 something you really track and understand.

43:00 Um,

43:00 I mean,

43:01 to be totally honest,

43:03 uh,

43:03 a lot of retailers are actually tracking their data.

43:06 It's that some of that data just isn't always accurate

43:09 along with also being incomplete.

43:12 Um,

43:13 it's one to measure and track inventory

43:15 with a store of 1000 or 3000 items.

43:17 It's in order to do the same with the store of the 30,000 SKUs.

43:20 Um,

43:21 it's,

43:21 it's,

43:22 uh,

43:22 one answer to that question,

43:23 I guess,

43:24 for retailers is to

43:26 make that data public.

43:28 Now,

43:28 and how can we as,

43:30 as retailers make that

43:31 a tool for not only ourselves but also,

43:34 excuse me,

43:34 policymakers and the public to make better decisions.

43:37 Uh.

43:38 If all retailers,

43:40 uh,

43:40 I'm thinking why are all food waste generators like manufacturing,

43:44 hotel,

43:44 hospitality sectors,

43:46 uh,

43:46 publish their food waste data on,

43:48 say,

43:48 an annual basis,

43:49 uh,

43:49 we could see from a widescreen advantage point

43:52 where to focus money and energy into addressing public food waste categories.

43:57 Uh,

43:57 it would also allow for easier tracking of progress and striving to meet

44:01 the sustainable development goal 12.3 in reducing waste by 5% by 2030.

44:06 Um,

44:06 it,

44:07 it,

44:07 and also on top of that collaboration between larger businesses,

44:11 small businesses up and down the supply chain,

44:13 uh,

44:14 in conjunction with,

44:16 um,

44:16 with policymakers.

44:18 Uh,

44:19 businesses don't really want to be told what to do

44:21 by policymakers.

44:23 Um,

44:24 but at the same time,

44:25 sometimes they don't take enough action,

44:26 so working together,

44:27 we can actually make a,

44:29 a,

44:29 a better track of moving forward together and making progress.

44:35 Excellent.

44:35 And just to follow up on that,

44:37 James,

44:38 um,

44:39 You mentioned data collection as being central.

44:41 Are smaller retailers also able,

44:43 I mean,

44:44 do they have

44:45 the technologies?

44:46 Do they have,

44:46 you know,

44:47 the systems in place?

44:48 Do they have the resources,

44:49 the funding in place to actually do this kind of work,

44:52 or

44:52 are we just talking about some of the larger supermarket chains,

44:55 not necessarily the mom and pop shop,

44:57 and.

44:57 Pop shops.

44:59 Your,

44:59 your mom and pop shops for the most part really don't

45:01 track because I think you hit the hammer on the head,

45:03 uh,

45:03 nail on the head,

45:04 I should say right there,

45:05 with they don't have the resources.

45:07 Uh,

45:07 it comes down to the

45:08 overall financial resources,

45:10 which would then pay for more labor,

45:12 more,

45:12 uh,

45:13 research,

45:13 more technology,

45:14 more services to,

45:15 to address those things.

45:16 Um,

45:17 sort of when you,

45:18 once you get into the 20 to 50-store range,

45:20 I think depending on your,

45:22 your mindset of progressiveness.

45:24 And

45:24 how much you want to actually tackle the problem.

45:26 Some businesses do have that tracking avail availability or ability to do so.

45:30 However,

45:32 sometimes that,

45:33 that

45:33 data is incomplete just because it's again a smaller operation.

45:36 Things aren't as uh smooth or as efficient as you would say for a larger retailer.

45:41 Um.

45:42 Once you get into that larger retailer sense that you've got the bandwidth,

45:46 you've got the money,

45:46 you've got the,

45:47 the internal or external resources to,

45:50 to fund projects to make sure that data is accurate

45:53 and is uh as regularly reported in an efficient way.

45:57 Yeah,

45:58 I'm thinking a little bit about how the Global South

46:01 tends to manage these same issues,

46:03 and I'm sure they have to be innovative in their own ways.

46:06 Claire,

46:07 um,

46:07 from the packaging perspective or anything else that you wanted to maybe weigh

46:10 in on from Doctor Thompson's presentation,

46:13 how do you envision

46:15 that we can tackle food waste and food loss?

46:18 Of course,

46:19 Doctor Thompson focused on another aspect of it,

46:21 but I think that there's also a huge opportunity in packaging,

46:24 so.

46:25 I'd like to hear your side of it.

46:27 Yeah,

46:27 I,

46:27 I,

46:28 um,

46:28 I'm so happy that she went over because I agree with everything she said,

46:33 and so I was just,

46:34 uh,

46:34 you know,

46:34 cheering from the sidelines,

46:36 so fantastic presentation.

46:38 Um,

46:39 one of the things that we've seen in industry is simply fascinating with packaging,

46:43 uh,

46:43 at least for me.

46:44 Uh,

46:45 we've seen,

46:45 uh,

46:46 small brands,

46:47 you know,

46:47 make some truly innovative,

46:49 uh,

46:49 steps,

46:50 uh,

46:50 with,

46:51 um,

46:51 reducing food waste or packaging,

46:53 right?

46:53 And we're also seeing that with retailers.

46:56 So large retailers,

46:57 um,

46:58 uh,

46:59 have trouble,

46:59 right,

47:00 uh,

47:00 innovating.

47:01 But a small retailer,

47:03 whether it's in the global south or,

47:04 um,

47:05 I live in Minnesota,

47:06 my,

47:06 my small retailer here,

47:08 um,

47:09 You know,

47:09 they're doing things like uh they're

47:11 putting in modified atmosphere packaging chambers,

47:14 right?

47:14 So a modified atmosphere packaging chamber would be just like you have

47:18 a frozen food chamber or shelf

47:21 or area of the store,

47:23 and you can actually go in and pick your own vegetables,

47:26 right?

47:26 Which is totally cool,

47:27 right?

47:27 And then

47:28 Consumers can then

47:30 pick their package that they want to put it in.

47:32 They could bring their reusable packaging,

47:33 they could use the,

47:34 the store packaging,

47:36 and,

47:36 and things like that.

47:37 So what that does,

47:39 that whole process is,

47:40 is amazing,

47:41 and uh it allows them

47:44 to,

47:44 it allows us in packaging to eliminate all these tiny little modified

47:48 atmosphere packaging bags that we use in produce and in other things,

47:53 and uh reduces food waste,

47:55 uh,

47:55 allows consumers to pick their own packaging.

47:57 Uh,

47:58 and

47:59 it's,

48:00 uh,

48:00 a wonderful solution.

48:01 So we're seeing really creative solutions like that.

48:04 Uh,

48:04 one of the things we're not really seeing.

48:07 Um,

48:07 at the brand level,

48:09 um,

48:09 and

48:11 it's amazing

48:12 that,

48:13 uh,

48:13 when you look at it,

48:14 90% of the investment dollars have really flowed into reducing food waste

48:18 from farm to retailer.

48:20 In,

48:21 you know,

48:21 the global South,

48:23 you know,

48:23 that,

48:23 that's different,

48:25 but here,

48:26 um,

48:26 you know,

48:27 20% of the environmental impact occurs at this stage

48:31 of the value chain.

48:33 So,

48:33 we're spending 90% of our investment dollars on

48:35 20% of the environmental impact of food waste.

48:38 So,

48:39 that's

48:40 extremely disappointing.

48:41 But what we can do is take that 90% that we've spent

48:45 and then transfer that technology to the global South,

48:47 which is cool.

48:48 But

48:49 by the same token,

48:51 we really need

48:52 to focus on where packaging can make a difference

48:55 in rural areas

48:57 and things like that,

48:58 and this is where brands really need to use packaging.

49:02 frankly,

49:02 very judiciously

49:03 and very respectfully to reproduce food waste in the hands of consumers

49:07 and employee packaging that's just

49:10 simply more sustainable.

49:12 And,

49:12 and we can do this,

49:13 uh,

49:13 we just need to,

49:14 um,

49:15 perhaps a little bit,

49:16 um.

49:18 Work a little bit harder at it.

49:21 Thank you so much,

49:21 Claire.

49:22 Francisco,

49:22 I don't know if it's fair to call

49:24 Shell Life packaging.

49:26 Maybe you can give us

49:27 just a brief explanation of what your product is

49:30 and how it contributes to food waste or food loss,

49:34 or rather the prevention of,

49:36 and maybe just other examples that you've seen

49:39 or just a general reaction to Doctor Thompson's presentation.

49:44 OK,

49:44 so first of all,

49:45 I,

49:46 I would like to say thank you.

49:48 It's an honor to be present in this,

49:51 uh,

49:53 Webinar and then,

49:55 well,

49:56 uh,

49:57 we developed a product 100% natural

50:01 and certified organic

50:03 uh that

50:05 control the dehydration and microbial contamination as well,

50:11 making like a,

50:12 a second skin of the fruits.

50:15 So

50:16 in that way,

50:18 we extend the shelf life of the fruits in the post-harvest process.

50:24 I mean,

50:25 and then

50:26 uh that

50:27 impact directly to reduce the fruit waste.

50:31 So that it's mainly that we are doing and also we are

50:37 using ingredients that

50:41 we obtained.

50:44 Uh,

50:45 byproduct

50:46 of agriculture,

50:48 uh,

50:49 resources as well.

50:50 So we are doing a

50:52 circularity economy as well.

50:55 Um,

50:56 so that it's pretty much right now,

50:59 the industry,

51:00 it's using a synthetic alternative to do the same things.

51:06 Uh,

51:06 in one case of that,

51:09 you can find some,

51:11 uh,

51:13 Products that are already using.

51:16 By

51:18 it,

51:18 it's using petrol derivatives in the formula,

51:22 so that's why we,

51:24 we believe that

51:25 there is another option,

51:27 more natural and,

51:28 and,

51:29 and friendly,

51:31 uh,

51:31 with the environment,

51:33 uh,

51:33 to do the same thing

51:35 and,

51:37 and,

51:37 and it's quite important because right now

51:41 in Europe,

51:42 mainly

51:43 the mindset is changing.

51:45 Uh,

51:46 so retailers are start to

51:50 to demand for the use,

51:52 uh,

51:53 for more natural product in order to extend the shelf life of the fruit in the shelf.

51:59 That's why we believe there is a huge opportunity in this moment,

52:04 not 2 years,

52:06 not 3 years ago.

52:07 So now is the moment because The,

52:10 the retailers,

52:11 it's demanding to the change for uh this and more.

52:16 I mean,

52:17 actually there are

52:19 restricting the entry

52:23 to the fruit coating with these synthetic products,

52:25 so

52:26 there is a huge opportunity

52:29 to

52:30 To,

52:30 to do more

52:32 natural things in order to extend the shelf life of the fruit and then

52:39 to reduce the fruit waste.

52:41 So that is pretty much

52:43 that

52:45 we are doing.

52:47 Excellent,

52:48 thank you.

52:48 So it sounds like you're using

52:51 very much of this pre-consumer ingredients,

52:53 as uh Doctor Thompson had mentioned,

52:56 in order to develop those coatings,

52:57 and then at the same time being organic,

52:59 it serves sort of as a,

53:01 as a cradle to cradle type of a solution.

53:04 Um,

53:04 so the fruits are obviously biodegradable,

53:07 but also the coatings as well.

53:09 That's,

53:09 uh,

53:09 that's super interesting.

53:10 I'd like to

53:11 quickly move on

53:12 to,

53:13 um,

53:14 Yasmine Berb.

53:15 This is a question specific to you since we are talking about packaging.

53:19 And I'd like to reference

53:21 Nestle's net zero roadmap,

53:22 which I know that you're responsible for implementing

53:25 in the MENA region.

53:26 So

53:27 I'm going to focus specifically on a shorter milestone.

53:29 The roadmap is actually really interesting to read.

53:31 I recommend it for everyone,

53:33 and it reaches milestones up to 2050 if I'm not mistaken.

53:37 But I like to focus on

53:38 what some of the milestones are for 2025,

53:41 so just in a few years.

53:42 So one of the company's milestones for 2025

53:45 is to reach 100% recyclable

53:47 or reusable packaging.

53:49 Could you

53:50 please elaborate a little bit

53:52 on

53:53 which materials uh Nestle will champion

53:56 to reach that goal?

53:57 And also,

53:58 and this is kind of referring

53:59 back to kind of the global South versus the global North.

54:03 Can you maybe weigh in on whether Nestle has put thought

54:06 into how those specific materials

54:08 may or may not be absorbed by markets

54:11 where solid waste management continues to be problematic.

54:14 Um,

54:14 so,

54:15 back to you,

54:15 Yasmin.

54:17 Thank you,

54:17 Nidal.

54:18 So,

54:19 so actually to deliver on our global commitment that

54:22 all our packaging will be recyclable or reusable by 2025,

54:27 we have defined clear sustainable packaging roadmaps

54:30 for every business we are active in MIA

54:33 like nutrition,

54:34 dairy,

54:34 coffee,

54:35 confectionery,

54:36 food,

54:37 pet food,

54:37 and waters,

54:38 etc.

54:39 So the approach can be very different in terms

54:42 of material from one category to the other.

54:45 In waters category,

54:46 for example,

54:47 we have launched the first bottles with 100% RPET,

54:51 which is the recycled

54:52 PET,

54:53 in countries where this is.

54:54 Possible

54:55 and we are working on replacing the complex multi-layer uh packaging material

55:01 with something which is fully recyclable monoaterials,

55:04 so we're simplifying,

55:05 we're reducing

55:07 and we are assessing as well where plastic can be.

55:11 Replaced by paper or cardboard,

55:12 for example,

55:13 and in some instances we are using material

55:16 which is 100% biodegradable,

55:18 food safety,

55:19 product quality and freshness,

55:21 preserving taste,

55:22 authenticity.

55:23 They remain

55:24 non-negotiable parameters for all the changes that we will do.

55:28 Our Institute of Packaging

55:31 Science in Lausanne is our lighthouse

55:33 which is leveraging technology and innovation.

55:36 We are also exploring alternative solutions like refillable containers,

55:41 reusable,

55:42 returnable options,

55:44 and we're offering as well innovative bulk solutions.

55:49 So we continue to collaborate very closely with governments,

55:52 NGOs,

55:53 industry players in order to improve recycling and the infrastructure.

55:59 In place so that we can recycle material,

56:01 for example,

56:02 the laminates and flexibles,

56:04 and we have numerous projects around the world in order to convert packaging

56:09 into a valuable resource.

56:11 So that's what we're doing in a nutshell.

56:15 Excellent,

56:16 thank you.

56:17 Um,

56:17 since we're on the topic of packaging,

56:18 and I don't want to spend too much time here,

56:20 but I'd like to go back to

56:22 Claire.

56:23 Um,

56:24 again,

56:24 for the World Bank,

56:25 the Global South is our market,

56:26 that's where our clients are.

56:28 And so thinking about these various materials that,

56:31 for example,

56:31 Yasmine had mentioned and other materials that you've seen,

56:34 how accessible

56:36 is the technology and know-how in order to,

56:39 you know,

56:40 really leverage uh these kinds of sustainable packaging solutions.

56:44 In less advanced manufacturing contexts,

56:47 so here I'm curious

56:49 about the technology both in terms of

56:51 the design side,

56:52 so what manufacturers might design for local markets

56:55 and also from the reuse side.

56:57 So what can consumers do

56:59 to perhaps engage

57:02 in more sustainable packaging.

57:05 So,

57:05 I,

57:05 I really like the way you framed that.

57:07 Uh,

57:07 there's a number of ways to look at the world.

57:09 Uh,

57:09 we can look at it all sorts of ways,

57:10 uh,

57:11 the global north,

57:11 global south,

57:12 um,

57:13 we can look at rural versus urban,

57:15 we can look at a focused economy versus a diverse economy,

57:18 a diverse economy,

57:19 and,

57:20 um,

57:20 we see these differences more markedly when we look

57:22 at a diverse economy versus uh a focused economy.

57:26 Right?

57:27 Uh,

57:27 or small-scale supply chains versus large-scale supply chains.

57:30 So,

57:31 um,

57:32 one of the things that we are seeing in,

57:34 is,

57:35 you know,

57:35 we don't really have small-scale or refined small-scale supply chains.

57:40 We have,

57:40 we are really good in the food industry,

57:43 um,

57:43 at,

57:43 you know,

57:44 pushing things through.

57:45 We're really good at focusing on throughput,

57:47 right?

57:48 So when I go to work with my clients,

57:50 I'm always amazed

57:51 that the number one thing they want to do is increase their line speeds,

57:54 right?

57:54 That's what they want to do.

57:56 But

57:57 we really have to take a step back,

57:58 I think,

57:59 and,

57:59 and I think this technology

58:01 uh is out,

58:02 well,

58:02 I know this technology is out there.

58:04 Um,

58:04 we've seen a lot of technology pole vaulting,

58:06 but we need to take a step,

58:07 step back

58:08 and really say,

58:10 let's change

58:11 the,

58:11 the dynamic from just throughput

58:14 to quality,

58:15 right?

58:15 To reducing food waste.

58:17 And a lot of manufacturers have done this,

58:19 uh,

58:19 quite frankly,

58:20 because it saved them money,

58:21 right?

58:21 But we haven't

58:22 Really focused on,

58:23 on the end part of what you're talking about.

58:26 But we have seen really cool technologies.

58:28 For example,

58:29 HEMA

58:29 in,

58:30 um,

58:31 in China has been using uh technology there uh for,

58:34 for,

58:35 I think it's about 5 or 6 years,

58:37 where it's a smart tag,

58:39 uh,

58:39 that's on,

58:40 um,

58:40 you know,

58:41 next,

58:41 it's on the package or right next to the package,

58:43 and it can actually tell them,

58:45 it'll put cents off,

58:46 right,

58:47 uh,

58:47 on the product.

58:48 Uh,

58:49 and so people will buy that faster.

58:50 Well,

58:50 that speaks to consumers.

58:52 Boy,

58:52 you can save money,

58:53 if you're going to use the meat today,

58:55 uh,

58:55 you buy it,

58:56 you buy the,

58:57 the lower cost meat.

58:58 But my retailer here,

58:59 not to pick on them again,

59:00 but they're still putting those garish yellow tags on,

59:03 right?

59:03 You know,

59:04 $1 off,

59:05 you know,

59:05 things like that.

59:06 So,

59:07 We do have access to the technology,

59:09 right?

59:10 Um,

59:11 and especially because our world is so interconnected,

59:14 uh,

59:15 but we are actually seeing

59:17 smaller scale supply chains,

59:18 like for example,

59:19 in Beijing with HEMA

59:20 that

59:21 I guess you couldn't have called that smaller scale,

59:23 but it's,

59:23 it's um focused in an urban area

59:26 and uh hemos,

59:27 this particular hemo story that was being highlighted,

59:29 people shop from just a mile radius.

59:32 So that's a very focused supply chain,

59:34 awesome solution for that.

59:36 Um,

59:37 but,

59:38 but we really need to apply the technology such as,

59:41 such as that

59:42 more,

59:42 more globally.

59:43 Um,

59:43 one of the things I think is interesting is,

59:45 you know,

59:45 how can we incent retailers to actually implement that technology.

59:49 I as a consumer would love that.

59:51 I hate those yellow garish tags.

59:53 But,

59:53 um,

59:54 you know,

59:55 I,

59:55 I think,

59:55 uh,

59:56 that's really important and,

59:57 and I also think somebody asked the question,

59:59 you know,

1:00:00 how can we incent brands

1:00:01 to actually reduce consumer food waste,

1:00:04 uh,

1:00:04 when frankly,

1:00:05 it's not in their best interests.

1:00:06 I mean,

1:00:06 that's sort of like the,

1:00:07 the elephant in the room if you will.

1:00:09 You know,

1:00:10 if brands reduce consumer food waste,

1:00:12 well,

1:00:12 then

1:00:13 people will buy less food,

1:00:15 and then the whole supply chain,

1:00:17 you know,

1:00:17 less,

1:00:18 less food gets

1:00:20 will need to be produced.

1:00:21 And so really making that

1:00:24 um

1:00:25 Important for brands is,

1:00:27 is extremely um

1:00:29 Important and,

1:00:30 and we'll move the dial.

1:00:32 But I think the brands that will actually communicate.

1:00:36 Hey,

1:00:36 this product,

1:00:37 uh,

1:00:38 is packaged in a way that will reduce your food waste

1:00:41 and communicate that effectively to consumers,

1:00:44 uh,

1:00:45 will be very successful.

1:00:48 Thank you,

1:00:48 Claire.

1:00:48 Um,

1:00:49 so we're kind of touching a little bit on the Global South,

1:00:52 you know,

1:00:52 how we can make this happen in client countries of the World Bank.

1:00:56 And um I'd like to actually move to Ani uh from Synergy.

1:01:01 You know,

1:01:02 based on my experience,

1:01:03 most circular economy projects in Africa tend to focus

1:01:07 on these end of pipe solutions,

1:01:09 in part because advanced manufacturing is relatively nascent.

1:01:12 So Sannergy has apparently leveraged

1:01:15 the continent's solid waste management challenges

1:01:17 and turned them into a business opportunity.

1:01:20 Could you speak to um maybe some of the biggest challenges your team faced

1:01:24 when you initially set up Synergy?

1:01:26 And then,

1:01:27 um,

1:01:27 you know,

1:01:28 also to kind of talk about the role of government,

1:01:30 maybe you can talk about also Synergy's

1:01:32 relationship with the government or the governments

1:01:35 that it's working with

1:01:36 and how that has also been,

1:01:38 uh,

1:01:38 either an opportunity or a challenge

1:01:40 to setting up the work that you do.

1:01:48 Annie,

1:01:49 I'm hoping your,

1:01:50 your audio is working now.

1:01:55 Uh,

1:01:55 great,

1:01:56 yeah,

1:01:56 thank you.

1:01:56 Can you guys hear me?

1:01:58 Yes,

1:01:58 great,

1:01:59 thank you.

1:01:59 OK,

1:01:59 great.

1:02:00 Thanks,

1:02:00 Nadel for the question.

1:02:01 Um,

1:02:02 yes,

1:02:02 that's uh

1:02:04 we think that

1:02:05 it's not about whether the manufacturing,

1:02:07 uh,

1:02:08 is advanced or,

1:02:09 or simplified,

1:02:10 but it's really,

1:02:11 is it reliable.

1:02:12 I think the biggest problem we have with bringing new technology,

1:02:15 uh,

1:02:15 onto the continent,

1:02:16 uh,

1:02:17 here in Africa is

1:02:19 His ability to have the right supply chains to

1:02:22 keep it running uh after the initial installation.

1:02:25 Uh,

1:02:25 the,

1:02:26 you know,

1:02:26 we,

1:02:26 we don't have Amazon here to just call up and get parts,

1:02:29 uh,

1:02:30 the next day.

1:02:30 So how do we ensure that

1:02:32 Uh,

1:02:33 the technology,

1:02:33 even if it's technically advanced,

1:02:35 is,

1:02:35 uh,

1:02:36 operationally reliable,

1:02:37 and that's what we've really focused,

1:02:38 uh,

1:02:39 our time on.

1:02:40 And,

1:02:40 in,

1:02:40 in,

1:02:41 in,

1:02:41 in addition to developing technology that is operationally reliable,

1:02:45 the biggest challenges we faced in setting up Synergy is

1:02:47 there really isn't a regulatory and

1:02:49 legislative environment for circular economy.

1:02:51 Uh,

1:02:52 so we work in Nairobi,

1:02:53 Kenya,

1:02:54 uh,

1:02:54 where

1:02:56 The concept of circular economy is very popular,

1:02:59 uh,

1:02:59 and,

1:02:59 and,

1:02:59 and positive with the government,

1:03:01 but there isn't really a,

1:03:02 um,

1:03:03 a legislative environment that allows us to,

1:03:06 uh,

1:03:06 to work,

1:03:07 uh,

1:03:07 within it.

1:03:08 So what we're,

1:03:09 uh,

1:03:10 what we spent the last,

1:03:11 uh,

1:03:11 unfortunately decade,

1:03:13 uh,

1:03:13 doing

1:03:14 is building that.

1:03:15 So how do we ensure that there's,

1:03:17 um,

1:03:18 regulatory environment for private sector to engage in safe waste collection,

1:03:22 landfill diversion.

1:03:24 Uh,

1:03:24 conversion of this to useful end products into the agricultural supply,

1:03:28 agricultural supply chain.

1:03:30 How do we ensure that the government,

1:03:31 uh,

1:03:32 and the

1:03:33 customers are comfortable with the safety and quality of the product?

1:03:36 How do we regulate the sector?

1:03:38 How do we create new standards?

1:03:39 How do we increase the competency of the government,

1:03:41 uh,

1:03:41 capability of the government

1:03:43 agencies to be able to regulate the sector?

1:03:45 All of this,

1:03:45 uh,

1:03:45 has been,

1:03:46 you know,

1:03:46 the,

1:03:47 the some of the biggest challenges we faced.

1:03:49 But I think the relationship with the government

1:03:50 is an interesting question to bring up because

1:03:53 Uh,

1:03:53 one thing we found in most,

1:03:55 uh,

1:03:55 countries,

1:03:55 at least in East Africa where we have a significantly more uh experience than,

1:03:59 uh,

1:04:00 West or Southern Africa is

1:04:02 the

1:04:03 Willingness of the government,

1:04:05 uh,

1:04:05 to try new things,

1:04:07 uh,

1:04:07 and,

1:04:07 and

1:04:08 At least say,

1:04:09 OK,

1:04:09 you know what,

1:04:10 we're gonna um

1:04:12 cordon off this area for you to experiment in.

1:04:14 Uh,

1:04:15 here are the ways you can experiment.

1:04:16 Here are the ways you can prove to us that this is working.

1:04:19 Before we allow you to roll it out

1:04:21 more widely.

1:04:22 I think the lack of a legacy infrastructure,

1:04:24 um,

1:04:25 or the

1:04:26 Um,

1:04:27 uh,

1:04:27 a legacy industry,

1:04:29 uh,

1:04:29 you know,

1:04:30 pulling it,

1:04:30 um,

1:04:31 pulling down new innovations is,

1:04:33 uh,

1:04:33 what we found,

1:04:34 uh,

1:04:34 to be very,

1:04:35 uh,

1:04:36 relevant and,

1:04:37 and so very advantageous,

1:04:38 uh,

1:04:38 here.

1:04:39 And

1:04:39 so when we combine that with a government that's willing

1:04:41 to give things a try because the problems are immense,

1:04:44 right?

1:04:44 So the waste management is a problem that every city,

1:04:46 every town in Kenya is facing.

1:04:48 Um,

1:04:49 so when there's a clear and present problem that we're looking to address,

1:04:51 the government's actually been quite helpful

1:04:54 and willing to engage and set up.

1:04:58 New,

1:04:59 um,

1:04:59 regulations and new criteria for at least giving this a try and saying,

1:05:03 OK,

1:05:03 can circular economy work?

1:05:04 How do we do it safely?

1:05:06 So,

1:05:06 uh,

1:05:06 it's been an interesting,

1:05:08 uh,

1:05:08 journey and we're looking to now see how can we replicate this in other countries.

1:05:12 We don't know yet

1:05:13 how willing other country governments will be,

1:05:16 uh,

1:05:16 as,

1:05:16 uh,

1:05:16 you know,

1:05:17 will they be as willing as the Kenyan government has been,

1:05:20 uh,

1:05:20 but something we're,

1:05:21 uh,

1:05:21 we'll,

1:05:21 we'll learn over the next coming years.

1:05:23 So thank you.

1:05:25 That's,

1:05:25 uh,

1:05:25 that's really interesting,

1:05:26 you know,

1:05:27 um,

1:05:27 we work all the time with governments and

1:05:30 A lot of times,

1:05:31 you know,

1:05:31 the policies that come through aren't necessarily evidence-based,

1:05:34 so the fact that you have this enthusiasm,

1:05:36 the fact that you have this iterative process

1:05:38 is really interesting.

1:05:39 Just a quick kind of technical question in terms of

1:05:43 how Sannergy uses the waste that it collects,

1:05:45 or rather buys,

1:05:46 I'm not exactly.

1:05:46 Sure what the business model is.

1:05:48 What percentage of that goes into fertilizer,

1:05:51 uh,

1:05:51 what percentage of that goes into,

1:05:53 I understand you're also in the

1:05:55 in the insect protein market.

1:05:57 So just to understand how that contributes specifically to food,

1:06:00 because I know you're mostly a solid waste management company,

1:06:03 but it's not

1:06:04 only a solid waste management company.

1:06:07 Sure,

1:06:07 uh,

1:06:08 actually we're,

1:06:08 we're more a manufacturing company for agricultural inputs.

1:06:11 It happens to be

1:06:12 that,

1:06:13 uh,

1:06:14 you know,

1:06:14 organic waste streams

1:06:15 that are otherwise polluting the urban environment,

1:06:18 are,

1:06:18 are really

1:06:19 our main feedstocks to make this happen and really build a circular economy model.

1:06:23 So

1:06:23 we really look for technologies that can be Layered on top

1:06:26 of each other so we can extract the most value from

1:06:28 uh the feedstock,

1:06:29 the,

1:06:30 the organic waste streams we're bringing in.

1:06:31 So,

1:06:32 uh,

1:06:32 interestingly,

1:06:33 so we just launched our factory in Nairobi in January um that

1:06:36 has a capacity to handle 70,000 tons a year of waste input,

1:06:40 organic waste input from the city of Nairobi.

1:06:43 Uh,

1:06:43 all of that waste is first,

1:06:45 uh,

1:06:45 converted,

1:06:46 uh,

1:06:46 first

1:06:47 put through the insect protein production process.

1:06:49 Once the insects consume

1:06:51 the nutrients that they are most,

1:06:53 um,

1:06:54 strong and,

1:06:55 and,

1:06:55 and consuming,

1:06:56 Uh,

1:06:56 the remainder of the organic fraction is what

1:06:59 we either send to uh create organic fertilizer

1:07:02 or

1:07:03 biomass briquettes,

1:07:04 uh,

1:07:04 for industrial fuels.

1:07:06 So

1:07:07 all of the 70,000 tons at our factory first

1:07:10 goes to the insect protein production process and

1:07:12 then the residue left behind by the insects

1:07:15 are what we convert into organic,

1:07:17 we further compost into organic fertilizer

1:07:20 or compress into briquettes for industrial fuels for the industries.

1:07:25 Uh,

1:07:25 in Nairobi.

1:07:27 Uh,

1:07:27 so,

1:07:27 and,

1:07:27 and,

1:07:28 and we see this,

1:07:28 the,

1:07:29 the,

1:07:29 the ability or the replicability of this model in

1:07:31 many towns and cities across Kenya and East Africa,

1:07:35 uh,

1:07:35 facing a similar problem on,

1:07:36 um,

1:07:37 massive amounts of organic waste,

1:07:39 uh,

1:07:39 without,

1:07:40 um,

1:07:41 a,

1:07:41 a clear profitable,

1:07:42 uh,

1:07:42 commercially viable model for reusing it.

1:07:47 Excellent,

1:07:47 excellent,

1:07:48 really interesting model.

1:07:49 Um,

1:07:49 I'm sure we'll hear a little bit more about it later.

1:07:52 Since we're on the topic of government,

1:07:54 uh,

1:07:54 Steven,

1:07:55 since you work with C40,

1:07:56 C40 is obviously,

1:07:58 you know,

1:07:58 focused on municipal governments,

1:08:00 and you're also working with regions.

1:08:02 So I wanted to ask you,

1:08:03 based on your experience,

1:08:05 more from kind of an NGO perspective,

1:08:07 you know,

1:08:07 what are some of the more difficult challenges to overcome when working

1:08:11 with public officials to implement these types of system changes

1:08:14 in agricultural and food,

1:08:15 so.

1:08:16 You know,

1:08:17 we see a lot of issues when it comes to limited resources,

1:08:19 limited technical training,

1:08:21 governance.

1:08:22 You know,

1:08:23 Perhaps you can talk a little bit about that and maybe introduce

1:08:26 one or two initiatives that C40 is working on

1:08:29 in Africa

1:08:30 and how that has been successful or you know what you've had to deal with.

1:08:36 Well,

1:08:37 thanks,

1:08:37 Neidel,

1:08:38 and uh I,

1:08:39 I think,

1:08:39 uh,

1:08:40 first of all,

1:08:40 I just want to,

1:08:42 to,

1:08:42 to say thank you very much to

1:08:44 Marianne for her very clear

1:08:46 and comprehensive presentation.

1:08:48 And I think that,

1:08:49 uh,

1:08:50 actually works,

1:08:51 uh,

1:08:51 sort of resonates a lot with what,

1:08:54 uh,

1:08:54 we're dealing with in our cities.

1:08:55 So,

1:08:56 uh,

1:08:56 I'm happy to,

1:08:57 to,

1:08:58 to share more perspectives on that,

1:09:00 uh,

1:09:00 also.

1:09:01 Uh,

1:09:02 yes,

1:09:02 you're right.

1:09:02 Uh,

1:09:03 I,

1:09:03 I think

1:09:04 we have a huge challenge right now when we are trying to

1:09:07 talk to city officials

1:09:08 and uh as you rightly pointed it out,

1:09:10 uh,

1:09:11 C40 works on two fronts.

1:09:12 So the first front,

1:09:13 of course,

1:09:13 is,

1:09:14 uh,

1:09:14 the political front where we work with mayors

1:09:17 and,

1:09:17 uh,

1:09:18 at least to secure the political commitment.

1:09:20 And uh secondly,

1:09:21 we work at the technical level also with the city officials just try to identify.

1:09:25 What are the barriers or opportunities that they have,

1:09:28 uh,

1:09:28 what's the technical capacity to implement sort of sustainable and,

1:09:32 uh,

1:09:33 circular economy models of food systems.

1:09:35 So,

1:09:36 uh,

1:09:37 based on that,

1:09:38 and if you look at,

1:09:39 uh,

1:09:39 from a global perspective again,

1:09:41 uh,

1:09:42 the,

1:09:43 the trends on urbanization and so on,

1:09:45 you,

1:09:45 you realize that,

1:09:46 uh,

1:09:46 we have about 80% of the food that is going to be consumed.

1:09:50 Uh,

1:09:51 is going to be consumed in cities by 2050.

1:09:53 So that gives you,

1:09:54 uh,

1:09:55 uh,

1:09:55 the scale of how

1:09:57 these challenges are,

1:09:58 are likely

1:10:00 to continue.

1:10:01 Uh,

1:10:01 but for C40 cities,

1:10:02 specifically,

1:10:03 uh,

1:10:04 coming back to your question,

1:10:05 I think that one of the challenges that we,

1:10:06 we experience

1:10:08 is,

1:10:08 uh,

1:10:08 is that

1:10:10 First of all,

1:10:10 in terms of the governance structure.

1:10:11 So sometimes you find that,

1:10:12 uh,

1:10:13 some city governments are not autonomous.

1:10:15 So you find that some city governments have uh a lot of uh

1:10:18 uh

1:10:19 uh stronghold of,

1:10:21 uh,

1:10:21 the national government have sort of a strong uh

1:10:24 impact

1:10:25 in how the decisions are made while some city governments can actually

1:10:29 have,

1:10:29 uh,

1:10:30 uh,

1:10:30 have the leeway to sort of,

1:10:31 uh,

1:10:32 uh,

1:10:32 address this,

1:10:33 these issues.

1:10:34 So that's,

1:10:35 that,

1:10:35 that's,

1:10:35 that's on the governance side.

1:10:36 And so how at C40,

1:10:38 how we address that uh apart from looking at it from a political,

1:10:41 uh,

1:10:42 engagement process,

1:10:43 I think we also try to understand what the,

1:10:45 the,

1:10:45 the,

1:10:45 the players in the,

1:10:46 in the,

1:10:47 in the city,

1:10:47 uh,

1:10:48 governance structure that we can,

1:10:50 uh,

1:10:50 access,

1:10:51 uh,

1:10:51 gain access to and try to,

1:10:53 to,

1:10:53 to,

1:10:53 to,

1:10:54 to speak with for them to sort of,

1:10:55 uh,

1:10:56 help us,

1:10:56 uh,

1:10:58 understand the,

1:10:58 the entire problem.

1:10:59 Uh,

1:11:00 I think,

1:11:00 secondly,

1:11:01 I think there's

1:11:02 The food system approach basically or model is,

1:11:06 is a bit alien to most of our city officials.

1:11:08 So you'll find that most of the city officials uh for,

1:11:11 for a long time have been working in silos.

1:11:13 So,

1:11:14 city departments uh specifically work in silos.

1:11:16 You find that the person in charge of markets,

1:11:18 for example,

1:11:19 Uh,

1:11:20 does not talk to the person who's in charge of public health,

1:11:22 does not talk to the person who's in charge of finance,

1:11:24 and so on.

1:11:25 And yet,

1:11:25 uh,

1:11:26 the food system approach or food system model

1:11:28 is,

1:11:29 is,

1:11:29 is very interconnected.

1:11:30 So,

1:11:31 uh,

1:11:31 one of the things that C40 has been doing actually based on,

1:11:34 uh,

1:11:35 how Work is uh we have a very robust peer,

1:11:38 peer to peer,

1:11:39 uh,

1:11:39 knowledge exchange model.

1:11:41 So we share information from cities,

1:11:43 especially,

1:11:44 uh,

1:11:45 uh,

1:11:45 in two ways.

1:11:46 So we have a global

1:11:47 uh uh network of cities that are are way advanced and,

1:11:51 and are able to share that knowledge and technical skills

1:11:55 to most of our,

1:11:56 uh our,

1:11:56 our cities that are emerging or

1:11:58 As you may call them now,

1:12:00 the,

1:12:00 the global

1:12:01 South cities.

1:12:02 So,

1:12:02 there's that sort of knowledge exchange platform that uh C40 is,

1:12:05 is,

1:12:06 has been working on that has been working very well.

1:12:09 Uh,

1:12:09 I think another thing that uh C40 does is that we sort of

1:12:13 try to,

1:12:14 to continuously engage with our partners and sort of ele elevate those,

1:12:18 uh,

1:12:19 uh,

1:12:19 uh,

1:12:20 issues or those issues or

1:12:22 barriers.

1:12:22 And opportunities that the cities have identified.

1:12:24 So we elevate them to our partners

1:12:27 and then see how we can support the cities.

1:12:29 Uh,

1:12:29 we have an issue with financing,

1:12:31 uh,

1:12:32 climate action,

1:12:33 as financing city,

1:12:34 city,

1:12:36 city identified or city led uh priorities.

1:12:39 So,

1:12:39 we,

1:12:40 we,

1:12:40 we also have to,

1:12:41 to help them to network with the city finance facilities

1:12:45 to help them uh.

1:12:46 Uh,

1:12:47 advance those,

1:12:48 those,

1:12:48 those actions.

1:12:49 And,

1:12:50 uh,

1:12:50 some of our,

1:12:51 actually,

1:12:51 some of our African cities have been very,

1:12:53 very,

1:12:53 uh,

1:12:53 successful in,

1:12:54 in sort of,

1:12:55 uh,

1:12:56 uh,

1:12:57 innovating,

1:12:58 uh,

1:12:58 ideas,

1:12:59 great ideas,

1:13:00 and,

1:13:00 and sort of testing,

1:13:01 testing them.

1:13:02 So,

1:13:03 for example,

1:13:03 uh,

1:13:04 the Lagos,

1:13:04 Lagos,

1:13:05 the city of Lagos has,

1:13:06 uh,

1:13:07 successfully piloted,

1:13:08 uh,

1:13:08 a waste,

1:13:09 uh,

1:13:09 a waste.

1:13:10 A model,

1:13:11 uh,

1:13:12 a waste reduction model,

1:13:13 a food waste reduction model

1:13:15 where,

1:13:15 by just changing,

1:13:16 uh,

1:13:17 how food is packaged.

1:13:18 So,

1:13:18 they changed the legislation,

1:13:19 how they will package

1:13:20 food and vegetables,

1:13:22 uh,

1:13:22 that are sort of causing about 45% loss just because of packaging.

1:13:26 And that has been

1:13:28 made tremendous success.

1:13:29 It's been a tremendous success for the city and reduced food loss.

1:13:33 Uh,

1:13:33 at the market level.

1:13:34 Uh,

1:13:35 we,

1:13:35 we have,

1:13:35 uh,

1:13:36 uh,

1:13:36 a city in Dar es Salaam.

1:13:37 They've also,

1:13:38 uh,

1:13:39 piloted,

1:13:39 uh,

1:13:40 uh,

1:13:40 sort of,

1:13:41 uh,

1:13:41 micro,

1:13:42 uh,

1:13:43 processing,

1:13:44 waste processing,

1:13:45 uh,

1:13:45 sites near the markets because

1:13:47 if you look at,

1:13:48 at how our food systems governance is,

1:13:50 is,

1:13:50 is,

1:13:51 is structured in,

1:13:52 in,

1:13:52 in most of our African cities,

1:13:53 you'll find that

1:13:54 Most of the food waste actually takes,

1:13:57 uh,

1:13:57 happens or loss happens at,

1:13:59 at the market level.

1:14:01 So,

1:14:01 Darrissa Lama successfully also,

1:14:03 uh,

1:14:03 had a,

1:14:03 uh,

1:14:04 uh,

1:14:04 uh,

1:14:04 a project where they,

1:14:06 they,

1:14:06 they,

1:14:06 they bring closure and I think,

1:14:09 uh,

1:14:09 Marianne alluded to that when,

1:14:11 when she presented the,

1:14:12 the,

1:14:12 the concept of decentralization.

1:14:14 How do we bring

1:14:15 Uh,

1:14:16 uh,

1:14:16 this sort of,

1:14:17 uh,

1:14:17 waste processing facilities closer

1:14:19 to,

1:14:20 to,

1:14:20 to the markets and,

1:14:21 uh,

1:14:21 shorten those,

1:14:22 those,

1:14:22 those,

1:14:23 those chains.

1:14:24 And,

1:14:24 and I think

1:14:24 there's also,

1:14:25 uh,

1:14:26 opportunity for us to have,

1:14:27 uh,

1:14:27 a lot of,

1:14:28 uh,

1:14:28 uh,

1:14:29 other core benefits like,

1:14:30 uh,

1:14:31 creation of,

1:14:31 of jobs for young people and so on.

1:14:33 So,

1:14:33 I think those are some of the,

1:14:35 the ways in which C40 has been,

1:14:37 has been helping cities to,

1:14:38 to work on the food system space.

1:14:41 Thank you,

1:14:41 Steve.

1:14:42 Yeah,

1:14:42 super,

1:14:43 super interesting and very,

1:14:44 I mean,

1:14:45 a lot of the language you use is very similar in our work.

1:14:47 Uh,

1:14:47 so we work kind of on those scales,

1:14:49 macro,

1:14:49 macro,

1:14:50 meso,

1:14:50 micro.

1:14:51 Um,

1:14:52 this is actually a conversation between panelists.

1:14:54 So,

1:14:55 uh,

1:14:55 I'd actually like others,

1:14:56 if they have questions for other panelists to jump in.

1:14:59 Claire,

1:14:59 you mentioned to me in the chat that you had a question for Steven,

1:15:02 so please jump in.

1:15:03 Yeah,

1:15:04 I,

1:15:04 I just love your example,

1:15:05 uh,

1:15:06 from Dars Salaam on,

1:15:07 uh,

1:15:07 you know,

1:15:07 microprocessing,

1:15:08 your markets.

1:15:09 I,

1:15:09 I just think that's fantastic,

1:15:11 and I can think of

1:15:12 where that's needed in a lot of places.

1:15:14 I wondered,

1:15:15 you know,

1:15:16 can you share some other knowledge,

1:15:18 you know,

1:15:18 from the,

1:15:19 the entire continent of Africa,

1:15:21 right?

1:15:21 Um,

1:15:22 that can be transferable,

1:15:23 uh,

1:15:23 outside the region,

1:15:24 uh,

1:15:24 to countries that contribute to,

1:15:26 frankly,

1:15:27 more greenhouse gas generation.

1:15:31 Basically more food waste

1:15:33 than Africa.

1:15:34 How can,

1:15:35 how can we,

1:15:36 we take your knowledge and,

1:15:37 and expand that to,

1:15:39 to the wild world,

1:15:40 the wider world?

1:15:43 Yeah,

1:15:43 thanks.

1:15:44 Thanks,

1:15:44 Claire.

1:15:44 Uh,

1:15:46 I,

1:15:46 I,

1:15:46 I think as,

1:15:47 uh,

1:15:47 as rightly you put it,

1:15:48 I think,

1:15:48 first of all,

1:15:49 we,

1:15:49 we,

1:15:49 we,

1:15:50 we,

1:15:50 we,

1:15:51 we have,

1:15:51 uh,

1:15:52 sort of the disjointed uh food system.

1:15:56 And,

1:15:56 uh,

1:15:56 if you look at,

1:15:57 uh,

1:15:58 at,

1:15:58 at,

1:15:58 at,

1:15:59 at,

1:16:00 at the points

1:16:01 of waste,

1:16:02 where waste is generated and how it's generated,

1:16:04 I think

1:16:05 it's a bit different

1:16:06 from the global north and the global

1:16:09 uh south

1:16:10 perspective.

1:16:11 So,

1:16:12 as,

1:16:12 as,

1:16:12 as you can see that most of our waste is,

1:16:14 is,

1:16:14 is generated before the food actually reaches the plate.

1:16:17 So,

1:16:17 uh,

1:16:17 some of our,

1:16:18 uh,

1:16:19 uh,

1:16:20 of,

1:16:20 of our

1:16:21 interventions are sort of,

1:16:22 uh,

1:16:23 uh,

1:16:24 a bit more relevant

1:16:26 when it comes to those,

1:16:27 uh,

1:16:27 systems because we still don't have not sort of,

1:16:29 uh,

1:16:30 perfected,

1:16:31 uh,

1:16:32 our,

1:16:33 our,

1:16:33 our,

1:16:33 our,

1:16:33 our food systems,

1:16:35 uh,

1:16:35 uh.

1:16:37 Value chain.

1:16:38 So,

1:16:38 it's,

1:16:39 it's,

1:16:39 it's,

1:16:39 it's really,

1:16:40 uh,

1:16:41 quite different.

1:16:42 But,

1:16:42 but,

1:16:43 but again,

1:16:43 as I,

1:16:43 as I,

1:16:43 as I mentioned,

1:16:44 I,

1:16:44 I think

1:16:46 some of those examples that I've,

1:16:47 I've,

1:16:47 I've mentioned are,

1:16:48 are,

1:16:48 are unique.

1:16:49 And

1:16:50 because also,

1:16:51 ideally,

1:16:51 what,

1:16:52 what we are struggling with is,

1:16:53 is quite different in terms of uh

1:16:56 If you look at uh

1:16:58 at at the food systems challenges that we're having,

1:17:00 uh,

1:17:00 at one point,

1:17:01 you know,

1:17:01 we,

1:17:01 we're still trying to look at,

1:17:03 at malnutrition and,

1:17:04 uh,

1:17:05 and on one side,

1:17:06 due to urbanization,

1:17:06 we also have obesity and so on.

1:17:08 So,

1:17:09 uh,

1:17:09 one of the things that,

1:17:10 that,

1:17:11 especially in urban areas,

1:17:12 I think one of the things that we are trying to implement is that to make sure that,

1:17:16 uh,

1:17:17 uh,

1:17:17 for example,

1:17:18 we strengthen the urban rural linkages.

1:17:20 Uh,

1:17:21 between,

1:17:21 uh,

1:17:22 how,

1:17:22 how,

1:17:22 how food moves from,

1:17:23 from the rural areas to the urban areas.

1:17:25 Cities in our context are huge consumption hubs

1:17:29 just because of the,

1:17:30 the amount of urbanization that is taking place.

1:17:32 So,

1:17:33 we've had some,

1:17:33 some,

1:17:34 some interventions,

1:17:35 uh,

1:17:35 from the policies,

1:17:36 uh,

1:17:36 side.

1:17:37 So having to see,

1:17:38 uh,

1:17:39 mayors and mayors institute,

1:17:41 uh,

1:17:41 changes and,

1:17:42 uh,

1:17:42 legislation,

1:17:43 uh,

1:17:44 for them to make sure that,

1:17:45 uh,

1:17:46 more food is,

1:17:47 uh,

1:17:47 is,

1:17:47 uh,

1:17:48 is sort of,

1:17:49 uh,

1:17:51 Uh,

1:17:51 more food is distributed within the system.

1:17:54 Um,

1:17:55 and,

1:17:55 uh,

1:17:56 we,

1:17:57 we,

1:17:57 because we do also have a major issue with access to food.

1:18:01 So,

1:18:01 accessibility of food and uh having

1:18:03 Uh,

1:18:04 very many different uh food points in terms of

1:18:08 how food is distributed even within the city.

1:18:10 I think

1:18:11 that's 11 of the things that

1:18:13 we are really struggling with,

1:18:14 and we have interventions like

1:18:17 Market on wheels

1:18:18 where food is distributed within the cities.

1:18:21 Uh,

1:18:21 I think those are some of the issues that we have tried to

1:18:24 To

1:18:25 sort of some of the examples that can be,

1:18:27 can be used in other cities.

1:18:29 Uh,

1:18:29 but,

1:18:29 uh,

1:18:29 but,

1:18:30 uh,

1:18:30 evidently,

1:18:31 we,

1:18:31 what we have seen,

1:18:32 especially after,

1:18:33 uh,

1:18:33 COVID,

1:18:34 the COVID pandemic is that,

1:18:36 uh,

1:18:36 mayors are sort of,

1:18:37 uh,

1:18:37 acknowledging that it's imperative for them to act,

1:18:40 uh,

1:18:40 in the best interest of their citizens.

1:18:42 So,

1:18:42 uh,

1:18:43 we are seeing more policy-driven,

1:18:46 uh,

1:18:46 policy-driven,

1:18:47 uh,

1:18:47 action.

1:18:49 And,

1:18:49 uh,

1:18:49 also helping,

1:18:50 uh,

1:18:51 working with innovators to sort of,

1:18:52 uh,

1:18:52 come up with,

1:18:53 uh,

1:18:53 innovative ways to,

1:18:54 to reduce food loss and

1:18:57 Yeah

1:18:59 Excellent.

1:18:59 Thank you,

1:18:59 Steven.

1:19:00 Um,

1:19:00 I'd like to go back to Marianne.

1:19:02 Um,

1:19:03 your name has come up quite a bit.

1:19:05 I know that on your extensive research on the topic,

1:19:09 you've done,

1:19:09 you've done work also

1:19:11 in regenerative farming.

1:19:13 This is kind of uh an element that we haven't necessarily touched on all that much,

1:19:17 um,

1:19:17 because we didn't include it in the presentation and there's just,

1:19:20 there's just too much to cover.

1:19:22 But I'm just wondering,

1:19:22 you know,

1:19:23 based on your work,

1:19:23 based on your research.

1:19:25 What are some of the top,

1:19:26 I don't know,

1:19:27 2 or 3 lessons that you've learned,

1:19:29 um,

1:19:30 that you could share from that space as it applies

1:19:32 to circular food systems.

1:19:34 So the topic is kind of shifting a little bit to regenerative farming,

1:19:38 and I'd like for you to weigh in first.

1:19:42 Yeah,

1:19:42 uh,

1:19:43 thank you,

1:19:43 yeah.

1:19:45 Um,

1:19:45 uh,

1:19:45 first of all,

1:19:46 I'm an assistant modeler,

1:19:48 so I,

1:19:48 I don't have so much hands on,

1:19:50 I have to say,

1:19:50 but,

1:19:51 uh,

1:19:52 as I have been working in interdisciplinary for many years,

1:19:55 of course,

1:19:55 I,

1:19:56 I,

1:19:56 I learned from,

1:19:57 from,

1:19:58 from the research in this area as well.

1:20:02 Um

1:20:03 So our learnings from uh regenerative farming,

1:20:07 was that your questions Neil Neil

1:20:10 yeah,

1:20:12 yeah,

1:20:12 but,

1:20:12 but.

1:20:13 Yeah.

1:20:14 It's,

1:20:14 it's

1:20:15 comes back to

1:20:18 To the,

1:20:19 the,

1:20:19 the same as,

1:20:20 as,

1:20:21 as uh

1:20:22 issue as uh Claire kind of uh

1:20:25 we've been so good at,

1:20:26 at,

1:20:27 um,

1:20:28 how do you say?

1:20:30 I do.

1:20:33 monocultures and uh effective big centralized systems and

1:20:39 regenerative farming is

1:20:42 As the discussion about the global or local

1:20:47 food system is really about,

1:20:49 um,

1:20:51 It's not as,

1:20:52 uh,

1:20:52 as effective,

1:20:53 uh,

1:20:53 but it is restorative,

1:20:55 right?

1:20:56 So you could also say,

1:20:57 I,

1:20:57 I mean,

1:20:58 there's different aspects,

1:20:59 but,

1:20:59 but farmers who do regenerative farming,

1:21:02 they,

1:21:02 they have hands on the soil and they,

1:21:04 they

1:21:05 know what,

1:21:06 what all of us has forgotten.

1:21:08 So they,

1:21:08 they know about the food quality that comes from regenerative farming,

1:21:12 the,

1:21:13 the better taste,

1:21:13 the higher nutritional value.

1:21:16 Um,

1:21:16 the,

1:21:17 the healthiness of the whole system and also to uh,

1:21:20 the,

1:21:21 to some extent,

1:21:22 the,

1:21:23 the,

1:21:24 how do you say,

1:21:24 the,

1:21:25 the,

1:21:25 the

1:21:27 Is that the,

1:21:28 I mean,

1:21:29 the soil kind of the no-till issues,

1:21:32 the

1:21:33 Permacultural aspects,

1:21:35 the idea of,

1:21:36 of having diversity in small-scale farming,

1:21:40 uh,

1:21:40 knowledge about plant systems and soil systems and intercropping systems,

1:21:45 that kind of,

1:21:46 uh,

1:21:46 in synergy that you have much higher productivity.

1:21:50 But

1:21:50 of course it's small scale,

1:21:52 um.

1:21:53 But,

1:21:53 but the,

1:21:54 I,

1:21:54 I

1:21:56 There are definitely more experts in this field than me,

1:21:59 but,

1:21:59 but it is,

1:22:00 it is less,

1:22:01 uh,

1:22:02 it requires more knowledge.

1:22:04 It's uh requires uh

1:22:06 some a big transition,

1:22:08 moving away from

1:22:10 big machinery and monocultures,

1:22:12 of course,

1:22:12 but it restores and it,

1:22:14 it,

1:22:14 it becomes.

1:22:16 A,

1:22:17 a more,

1:22:17 much more productive system and a much more healthy system.

1:22:20 That,

1:22:20 that could be my words,

1:22:22 but it needs decentralization,

1:22:24 it needs landscape changing,

1:22:26 but,

1:22:27 but on the other hand,

1:22:29 I think it's around 80% of,

1:22:30 of our

1:22:31 non-livestock food is produced by small-scale farmers,

1:22:34 right?

1:22:35 So we know already

1:22:37 what is the truth kind of,

1:22:39 um,

1:22:39 so,

1:22:39 um,

1:22:41 Yeah,

1:22:41 so we need to,

1:22:42 and the other thing I think is that um

1:22:47 Labor intensive systems are expensive.

1:22:51 So that is also a barrier for,

1:22:53 for diversifying our economic system as a

1:22:56 whole and also reintroducing regenerative farming systems.

1:23:00 Um,

1:23:01 and I don't know how to change that part of the economic system,

1:23:04 but labor is a cost,

1:23:07 so

1:23:07 you can imagine that that automized,

1:23:10 uh,

1:23:10 very effective big scale.

1:23:13 Machinery,

1:23:14 uh,

1:23:14 drone systems whatsoever.

1:23:16 These kind of scenarios are much more effective and needs less labor,

1:23:20 but it does not restore our solid ecosystem and it does not

1:23:26 ensure that there are resources for future generations as we have had it for,

1:23:30 for our generation.

1:23:32 So it's a totally different future

1:23:34 where you have to imagine that natural

1:23:36 resources can be replaced by technological fixes.

1:23:40 So it very much depends about your mindset as well,

1:23:44 but I,

1:23:44 in my opinion,

1:23:46 there's no way to pass a reintroduction of regenerative agriculture because

1:23:53 uh of the planetary boundaries.

1:23:56 Thank you,

1:23:56 Marianne.

1:23:57 On that same topic,

1:23:58 um,

1:23:59 I'd like to

1:24:00 jump back to Yasmine Verbee

1:24:02 and the and Nestle's Net Year roadmap.

1:24:05 So again,

1:24:06 looking at a much closer milestone.

1:24:08 So by 2025,

1:24:09 Nestle plans to rely

1:24:11 on

1:24:12 what they explain in the roadmap to be a consistent and reliable pool of suppliers

1:24:16 who can sell 100% certifiable sustainable ingredients in terms of cocoa,

1:24:20 coffee,

1:24:21 and palm oil,

1:24:22 and also rely.

1:24:24 On farmers who use regenerative agricultural practices

1:24:28 for 20% of the company's key ingredients,

1:24:31 that 20% raises,

1:24:33 you know,

1:24:33 as time goes,

1:24:34 but at least for 2025,

1:24:36 that's the goal.

1:24:37 So my question for you,

1:24:38 Yasmin,

1:24:38 is,

1:24:39 you know,

1:24:39 based on the work that you've already done

1:24:41 in understanding how to implement this roadmap,

1:24:44 does this pool of suppliers and small scale farmers already exist?

1:24:48 Um,

1:24:49 maybe even going back to Marianne's point,

1:24:51 does the knowledge

1:24:52 exist?

1:24:53 And if not,

1:24:54 um,

1:24:55 or if the pool is relatively small,

1:24:57 how is it that Nestle can help develop those markets?

1:25:00 How can we help

1:25:01 kind of get to that 20% so that large manufacturers

1:25:05 have access

1:25:06 to regenerative agricultural practices and farms?

1:25:09 So that's my question.

1:25:12 Thank you,

1:25:13 Nidal.

1:25:13 So globally we do source directly through half a million farmers and more than

1:25:19 150,000 suppliers.

1:25:22 Our cocoa and coffee plants,

1:25:25 for example,

1:25:26 they span more than a decade.

1:25:27 Aiming to improve the livelihood of farmers,

1:25:30 grow their yields,

1:25:31 and enhance the crop quality,

1:25:34 Kit Kat,

1:25:34 for example,

1:25:35 was the first global brand to be sourced from 100% sustainable cocoa since 2016,

1:25:42 and over the

1:25:43 last 10 years,

1:25:45 we,

1:25:45 how did we help?

1:25:46 We,

1:25:47 for example,

1:25:48 Invested 220 million

1:25:51 Swiss francs on the program.

1:25:54 We have distributed 14.5 million cocoa trees

1:25:59 and 114,000 farmers.

1:26:02 They were trained globally,

1:26:04 so we really believe in scale and not niche.

1:26:07 So

1:26:07 through this we were able as well

1:26:10 globally to to to.

1:26:13 Source our confectionery from 68%

1:26:17 from the farmers who are on boarded on our plan.

1:26:20 zooming in to Nescafe,

1:26:22 we do commit as well through our cup of respect

1:26:26 to pledge for achieving 100% sustainable

1:26:30 sourcing

1:26:32 for coffee by 2025 and to reach net zero by 2050

1:26:38 across our factories in Mina,

1:26:39 25 factories.

1:26:41 Since 2010

1:26:42 we have reduced water withdrawal by 4 42% per ton of product,

1:26:48 decreased energy consumption by 55%,

1:26:52 and greenhouse gas emissions by 60%.

1:26:56 So

1:26:56 we continue to work hand in hand across the value

1:26:59 chain in order to have better footprint to the environment.

1:27:03 Our vision is a resilient and regenerative agriculture system

1:27:07 that protects and Restore the soil and forests

1:27:11 we

1:27:12 drive,

1:27:13 we drive sustainable livelihoods of farmers and we promote human rights

1:27:17 as well and develop circular business models together with them.

1:27:22 We are looking for collaborations with farmers,

1:27:25 with suppliers,

1:27:26 with governments across the whole food system that are scalable so we really want

1:27:32 to go big and and we need those collaborations from end to end.

1:27:38 Thank you.

1:27:38 Thank you,

1:27:38 Yasmine.

1:27:39 I'd like to stay with you and actually

1:27:41 invite some other speakers into this next question.

1:27:43 Um,

1:27:44 James at the very beginning had mentioned

1:27:46 if you can't manage it,

1:27:48 if you can't measure it,

1:27:49 you can't manage it,

1:27:49 and I completely agree with that.

1:27:51 Um.

1:27:53 There's also another way to kind of

1:27:55 describe uh

1:27:57 a similar goal,

1:27:58 and that is how do you define success as a sector?

1:28:00 How does the food sector,

1:28:01 how does the agriculture

1:28:03 sector define success?

1:28:05 So,

1:28:05 Yasmin,

1:28:05 I'd like you to maybe weigh in and also Francisco and Claire.

1:28:10 Uh,

1:28:10 on this question,

1:28:10 you know,

1:28:11 how does

1:28:12 the food and agricultural sector define success,

1:28:14 and specifically,

1:28:16 and I'm

1:28:16 picking on you guys a little bit just because you tend to focus a lot on emissions.

1:28:20 GHG emissions

1:28:22 the most appropriate metric to define that success

1:28:25 and Again,

1:28:25 kind of going back to this previous point on

1:28:28 on regenerative agriculture,

1:28:30 how does the ecosystem's health and biodiversity

1:28:33 play into that measuring

1:28:35 of success?

1:28:36 Is there a place for it?

1:28:37 And if so,

1:28:38 you know,

1:28:39 which additional indicators should we be using

1:28:42 to really measure that we are getting

1:28:44 to that point?

1:28:45 So Yasmin,

1:28:45 maybe we can start with you again in terms of

1:28:48 GHG emissions versus other metrics,

1:28:50 and then Francisco and Claire could also weigh in from their own perspectives.

1:28:56 A

1:28:57 very interesting question.

1:28:58 So,

1:28:59 so defining success,

1:29:01 how do I see success?

1:29:02 Success is seeing more companies and governments

1:29:05 joining the UN business ambition for the 1.5

1:29:10 °C pledge and committing in tailoring robust,

1:29:13 time-bound plans,

1:29:14 acting seriously on climate change,

1:29:16 and reporting publicly their progress.

1:29:19 So we need this to be measured and we need it to be visible to everyone.

1:29:24 Net zero means that Nestle will drastically reduce its green gas house emissions

1:29:30 from farm to fork while removing as

1:29:32 well the remaining emissions from the atmosphere

1:29:35 with projects that store carbon in soils and trees.

1:29:38 So those are things as well that we publicly talk about and we communicate.

1:29:43 In terms of projects and what we are doing,

1:29:46 we want to create a resilient food system

1:29:48 that provides nutrition,

1:29:51 nutritious food for 9 billion people on this planet.

1:29:55 We have published our ambitious commitments in several areas of sustainability,

1:30:00 and we will report our progress on.

1:30:02 Regular basis

1:30:03 and

1:30:04 on this platform I say to everyone we cannot achieve the net zero alone.

1:30:09 We will continue working closely with farmers,

1:30:12 with suppliers,

1:30:13 industry,

1:30:14 our employees,

1:30:15 consumers,

1:30:16 governments,

1:30:17 communities,

1:30:17 NGOs,

1:30:18 where we operate in order to build a sustainable future.

1:30:23 Thank you,

1:30:23 Yasmin.

1:30:24 Uh,

1:30:24 Francisco,

1:30:24 also on,

1:30:25 um,

1:30:25 Poly Natural's website,

1:30:27 there's,

1:30:27 um,

1:30:28 there's obviously a reference to the impact of your work,

1:30:31 and again,

1:30:31 you're looking at GHG emissions.

1:30:33 What are your thoughts on the role of that specific indicator versus

1:30:37 potentially other indicators

1:30:38 in terms of impact?

1:30:41 Um,

1:30:42 Well,

1:30:43 it's quite important because

1:30:45 uh if you can measure,

1:30:48 you can see if it's working or not.

1:30:51 So,

1:30:52 any indicator for,

1:30:54 for me,

1:30:55 I mean,

1:30:56 will be

1:30:57 useful.

1:30:58 So right now,

1:30:59 uh,

1:31:00 we are working in use of food waste

1:31:03 in our site,

1:31:04 so

1:31:05 we have so those

1:31:07 measurement

1:31:09 in,

1:31:10 in our pipeline,

1:31:11 but it's quite important also for example here the water of the footprint.

1:31:17 Uh,

1:31:18 the,

1:31:19 the hydrate footprint

1:31:21 because here in Chile,

1:31:23 it's a huge

1:31:25 problem with,

1:31:27 uh,

1:31:28 um,

1:31:28 rainwater right now.

1:31:30 Uh,

1:31:30 actually,

1:31:31 uh,

1:31:32 there are in some places,

1:31:33 some cities here

1:31:35 that we don't have water,

1:31:37 uh,

1:31:38 the raining,

1:31:39 it's,

1:31:40 it's really,

1:31:41 really bad.

1:31:42 Actually,

1:31:44 actually,

1:31:45 we are in winter,

1:31:46 but it's 26

1:31:49 °C right now,

1:31:51 so it's crazy.

1:31:52 We don't have raining,

1:31:54 so it's quite important the,

1:31:55 the,

1:31:56 the water and the footprint in the water as well.

1:32:00 So it's all depends

1:32:01 what do you want to see

1:32:03 and if it those measurement it's good or not.

1:32:08 Uh,

1:32:09 and then I would like to add as well that

1:32:13 Uh,

1:32:14 here,

1:32:15 I mean,

1:32:16 there is a lot of uh governments doing a lot of things,

1:32:19 but here in Latin America,

1:32:22 the things are a little bit different.

1:32:25 Uh,

1:32:25 we need to

1:32:27 survive

1:32:29 in another

1:32:30 uh way,

1:32:31 so we are looking for improved the quality of the life.

1:32:35 We are worrying,

1:32:36 uh,

1:32:38 in,

1:32:38 in another thing,

1:32:39 so

1:32:42 Reducing the food wastes,

1:32:43 uh,

1:32:43 I mean the food waste,

1:32:44 sorry,

1:32:45 it's important,

1:32:46 but the not more important thing.

1:32:49 So that's why I believe that

1:32:51 if we can change,

1:32:53 uh,

1:32:53 uh,

1:32:54 the,

1:32:54 the mindset of the cons the final consumer and the government.

1:33:00 That will be great as well.

1:33:01 I mean,

1:33:02 because

1:33:03 right now,

1:33:04 uh,

1:33:04 uh,

1:33:05 we have a lot of uh problem here like uh in that society,

1:33:09 I mean,

1:33:10 the,

1:33:10 the politician are doing a lot of bad things,

1:33:13 you know,

1:33:14 so that's why we,

1:33:16 I believe that

1:33:18 If we,

1:33:19 if we,

1:33:20 we can do some change,

1:33:23 uh,

1:33:24 we need to teach

1:33:27 to the population how we can improve,

1:33:30 uh,

1:33:31 those,

1:33:32 uh,

1:33:33 impact in,

1:33:34 in the sustainability indicator,

1:33:36 you know,

1:33:36 so

1:33:37 for me,

1:33:38 it's quite important that teaching the,

1:33:41 the,

1:33:41 the population and the,

1:33:43 and the

1:33:44 The new generation

1:33:46 are a huge responsibility in this

1:33:50 way because

1:33:51 uh they are changing the world right now and we need to teach them

1:33:57 how

1:33:58 they we can do that.

1:33:59 So

1:34:00 for me,

1:34:01 the teaching is the more important thing and then

1:34:04 let's do to measure that things.

1:34:09 Thank you so much.

1:34:10 Um,

1:34:11 actually,

1:34:11 Claire,

1:34:11 I'm gonna ask you to jump in on the next question because we are

1:34:15 running short on time,

1:34:16 but I think this is a really important question,

1:34:18 especially for our audience.

1:34:20 Um,

1:34:21 and this is a question to you,

1:34:22 uh,

1:34:23 Claire,

1:34:23 Annie,

1:34:24 Francisco,

1:34:24 James,

1:34:25 Steven,

1:34:26 you're the ones who maybe work

1:34:27 most with policymakers.

1:34:29 And so really the question is a broad question.

1:34:31 What can policymakers

1:34:33 do better

1:34:34 to support the transition to more sustainable and circular food systems?

1:34:38 In the places that you've worked.

1:34:40 So,

1:34:40 maybe Claire,

1:34:41 we can start with you

1:34:42 and then we can move on to

1:34:44 uh Steven,

1:34:45 James,

1:34:45 Francisco,

1:34:46 and Annie.

1:34:48 Yeah,

1:34:48 I was,

1:34:49 I was really uh nodding my head when Steven said that,

1:34:51 uh,

1:34:51 you know,

1:34:52 government works in silos,

1:34:53 right?

1:34:54 Uh,

1:34:54 but,

1:34:55 uh,

1:34:55 and,

1:34:55 and,

1:34:56 you know,

1:34:56 I think all of us are,

1:34:57 and especially Marianne,

1:34:58 we're,

1:34:58 we're talking about a systems approach,

1:35:00 right?

1:35:00 So we have packaging waste and we have food waste.

1:35:02 Well,

1:35:03 which one is more important?

1:35:04 Well,

1:35:05 you know,

1:35:05 more greenhouse gasses

1:35:07 are consumed by food waste versus packaging,

1:35:10 right?

1:35:11 But,

1:35:11 um,

1:35:12 and we can argue that till um

1:35:14 till the cows come home.

1:35:15 But

1:35:16 Um,

1:35:17 the,

1:35:17 uh,

1:35:18 the number one thing that governments,

1:35:19 uh,

1:35:20 need to do is incentivize,

1:35:22 uh,

1:35:23 and,

1:35:23 um,

1:35:24 you know,

1:35:25 uh,

1:35:25 I'm,

1:35:25 I'm from the US and it's,

1:35:27 uh,

1:35:28 you know,

1:35:28 perhaps,

1:35:29 uh,

1:35:29 well,

1:35:29 extremely embarrassing,

1:35:30 you know,

1:35:31 our,

1:35:31 our greenhouse gas,

1:35:32 uh,

1:35:33 yeah.

1:35:34 Impact on the environment is,

1:35:36 is horrid,

1:35:37 right?

1:35:37 It's,

1:35:38 uh,

1:35:38 frankly something we should be embarrassed about as,

1:35:41 as

1:35:41 US

1:35:43 citizens.

1:35:44 And,

1:35:44 uh,

1:35:45 you know,

1:35:45 we need to act,

1:35:46 right?

1:35:47 Uh,

1:35:47 but I don't think that,

1:35:48 uh,

1:35:49 hammer policies and edicts,

1:35:50 uh,

1:35:50 for example,

1:35:51 plastic bans or,

1:35:52 or whatever,

1:35:54 under the correct approach.

1:35:55 And uh,

1:35:56 you know,

1:35:56 history has shown that governments really need to um get out of

1:36:00 their silos and work with industry as a systems approach and incentives,

1:36:05 um,

1:36:06 and I,

1:36:06 I know this as a parent,

1:36:07 right?

1:36:08 You,

1:36:08 you can

1:36:09 get your children to do things better with incentives versus punishment.

1:36:14 And uh I think governments need to,

1:36:16 uh,

1:36:16 to focus on incenting industry.

1:36:19 Uh,

1:36:19 and,

1:36:20 uh,

1:36:20 versus,

1:36:21 uh,

1:36:21 punishing industry.

1:36:23 Um,

1:36:23 one of the things I think about a lot is,

1:36:25 uh,

1:36:26 you know,

1:36:26 where we're going as a planet.

1:36:28 Uh,

1:36:28 I'm a Star Trek fan,

1:36:30 and,

1:36:31 uh,

1:36:31 on Star Trek,

1:36:32 there's no packaging.

1:36:33 There's also no food waste,

1:36:34 right?

1:36:35 And,

1:36:35 and so,

1:36:36 you know,

1:36:36 we have the vision to get there,

1:36:38 uh,

1:36:38 and,

1:36:39 uh,

1:36:39 and we can,

1:36:40 but we do need governments that actively take a role

1:36:43 in

1:36:45 incenting.

1:36:46 Incenting uh industry,

1:36:48 both packaging

1:36:49 and the food industry.

1:36:52 Thank you,

1:36:53 Claire.

1:36:53 Um,

1:36:54 Steven,

1:36:55 any concrete thoughts on what policymakers can do better based on your experience?

1:36:59 Yeah,

1:37:00 uh,

1:37:00 uh,

1:37:01 thanks,

1:37:01 Claire,

1:37:01 for that,

1:37:02 uh,

1:37:02 uh,

1:37:03 that statement,

1:37:03 and,

1:37:04 and,

1:37:04 and I agree with her,

1:37:05 but from our also

1:37:07 additionally from our perspective as cities,

1:37:08 I think.

1:37:09 Uh,

1:37:10 that needs,

1:37:11 uh,

1:37:12 to be a lot of,

1:37:12 uh,

1:37:13 technical assistance.

1:37:14 So,

1:37:15 for,

1:37:15 for example,

1:37:16 as I mentioned,

1:37:16 for,

1:37:17 for cities,

1:37:18 especially

1:37:19 in the global South,

1:37:20 where there's a,

1:37:21 there's a depth in the knowledge and the technical know-how,

1:37:24 and also,

1:37:25 I think,

1:37:25 you know,

1:37:25 also in terms of the tools

1:37:28 and the resources for,

1:37:30 for,

1:37:30 for the city's official,

1:37:31 for example,

1:37:32 to

1:37:33 To sort of start,

1:37:34 uh,

1:37:35 coming up with uh or implementing,

1:37:37 uh,

1:37:37 circular economy approaches in terms of,

1:37:40 uh,

1:37:40 looking at the food system,

1:37:41 I think is very,

1:37:41 very important.

1:37:43 Uh,

1:37:43 but also I think also in the time in,

1:37:45 in the design of the food policies,

1:37:47 there should be,

1:37:48 uh,

1:37:49 a uh,

1:37:49 uh,

1:37:50 a more focus on,

1:37:51 on,

1:37:51 on behavioral change.

1:37:53 So,

1:37:53 uh,

1:37:53 as Claire said also,

1:37:55 you know,

1:37:55 when,

1:37:55 when,

1:37:55 when we just put uh legislation to ban uh consumption of,

1:37:59 or sale of,

1:38:00 of sugary foods goes to schools to avoid the nutritious transition

1:38:05 or we say,

1:38:06 uh,

1:38:07 we are going to,

1:38:08 to,

1:38:08 to punish,

1:38:09 uh,

1:38:10 uh.

1:38:11 Uh,

1:38:12 waste,

1:38:12 waste disposal,

1:38:13 inappropriate waste disposal.

1:38:15 It doesn't give sort of the incentives as she says,

1:38:17 for,

1:38:18 for,

1:38:18 for,

1:38:19 for,

1:38:19 for systems change.

1:38:20 So,

1:38:20 I think what is,

1:38:21 is,

1:38:21 is,

1:38:22 is really important is to,

1:38:23 is to also focus a lot on behavioral change.

1:38:26 Uh,

1:38:26 but also,

1:38:27 uh,

1:38:27 in,

1:38:27 in a,

1:38:27 in a broader context,

1:38:29 uh,

1:38:29 uh,

1:38:30 for,

1:38:30 uh,

1:38:30 I can give you an example of what,

1:38:31 what the process that we have

1:38:33 had at C40 cities.

1:38:35 C40 cities has been,

1:38:36 has been working

1:38:37 with cities to develop climate action plans and

1:38:40 prioritize,

1:38:41 uh,

1:38:41 actions that actually,

1:38:42 uh,

1:38:43 contribute to sustainable development

1:38:44 and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

1:38:46 In terms of waste,

1:38:48 if you come to

1:38:48 the African continent,

1:38:49 and most of our cities actually,

1:38:50 if you look at the municipal waste,

1:38:52 and I think Annie can come in and,

1:38:54 uh,

1:38:54 Perhaps confirm and give us more clarity on this,

1:38:57 is that you'll see that most of our waste,

1:38:59 about 60% of our municipal waste is actually,

1:39:02 uh,

1:39:03 uh,

1:39:03 food waste or it's organic,

1:39:05 you know.

1:39:06 So,

1:39:06 it's,

1:39:06 it's organic waste that cannot

1:39:08 be transformed into,

1:39:10 into waste to energy systems that some cities have also been trying to

1:39:14 unsuccessfully,

1:39:16 uh,

1:39:16 uh,

1:39:17 uh,

1:39:17 uh,

1:39:17 implement.

1:39:18 So,

1:39:18 basically,

1:39:19 uh,

1:39:19 I think that kind of,

1:39:20 uh,

1:39:21 uh,

1:39:21 of interventions,

1:39:22 uh,

1:39:22 is important.

1:39:23 But ultimately,

1:39:24 also,

1:39:24 I think if we can support our cities with accurate data,

1:39:28 and,

1:39:28 uh,

1:39:28 and also just the financing their,

1:39:30 their innovations,

1:39:31 as I mentioned,

1:39:32 uh,

1:39:32 cities are

1:39:34 Uh,

1:39:34 are,

1:39:34 are big enough to experience this,

1:39:36 uh,

1:39:36 uh,

1:39:36 system challenges,

1:39:37 but they're also small enough to,

1:39:39 uh,

1:39:40 to provide,

1:39:41 uh,

1:39:41 uh,

1:39:41 scalable actions,

1:39:43 you know,

1:39:43 that can be implemented.

1:39:46 Thank you,

1:39:46 Steven,

1:39:46 and,

1:39:47 and I'm glad you gave kind of a segue to

1:39:49 Ani because I wanted to ask him as well since we're

1:39:51 on the African continent.

1:39:53 You seem to be very happy with the Kenyan government,

1:39:55 but

1:39:56 again,

1:39:56 I'm sure

1:39:57 you have some ideas on maybe something

1:39:59 that they could do better to support yourselves

1:40:01 and other industries in terms of sustainable food.

1:40:03 So,

1:40:04 Ani,

1:40:04 maybe you could give your thoughts on that.

1:40:14 Thank you,

1:40:15 uh,

1:40:16 Nadal.

1:40:16 Yes,

1:40:16 uh,

1:40:17 I mean definitely reflect with,

1:40:18 uh,

1:40:19 what,

1:40:19 um,

1:40:20 you know,

1:40:20 what Steven said on,

1:40:22 um,

1:40:23 support for local governments.

1:40:24 Uh,

1:40:24 you know,

1:40:25 waste is devolved

1:40:26 in Kenya to be county responsibilities,

1:40:28 but the comp uh,

1:40:30 experience,

1:40:30 uh,

1:40:31 of county governments and municipalities to

1:40:33 engage in public-private partnerships,

1:40:35 uh,

1:40:36 is significantly,

1:40:37 uh,

1:40:37 less than what the national government has.

1:40:40 And frankly,

1:40:41 you know,

1:40:41 public-private partnerships have really only been done on the bridges,

1:40:44 you know,

1:40:45 hot dams,

1:40:46 uh,

1:40:46 you know,

1:40:46 roads,

1:40:47 type of er you know big infrastructure projects and not in the circular economy,

1:40:51 waste management

1:40:52 side of things.

1:40:52 So

1:40:53 I think more support at the local level for municipalities to take ownership,

1:40:57 uh,

1:40:58 and be able to drive the,

1:41:00 the,

1:41:00 the path forward in how they engage the private sector to address,

1:41:03 uh,

1:41:04 the circular economy and,

1:41:05 uh,

1:41:05 sustainable waste management issues across the continent would be.

1:41:08 Very helpful.

1:41:10 In addition,

1:41:10 I think

1:41:11 while 60% of the waste here is

1:41:14 organic,

1:41:15 uh,

1:41:15 uh,

1:41:16 a lot of it is lost because we don't have clear incentivization

1:41:20 on segregation and upstream separation.

1:41:22 Once it gets commingled,

1:41:23 it is really difficult and expensive,

1:41:25 uh,

1:41:25 to separate things.

1:41:26 So,

1:41:27 how do we ensure,

1:41:28 uh,

1:41:28 upstream,

1:41:29 we're incentivizing the generators of the waste

1:41:32 to be able to keep those waste streams separate so that they can actually eat

1:41:35 each of those waste streams,

1:41:36 whether that's technical.

1:41:38 Uh,

1:41:38 waste streams,

1:41:39 inorganic waste streams or organic waste streams can be,

1:41:42 uh,

1:41:42 you know,

1:41:43 the most value can be driven,

1:41:44 uh,

1:41:45 uh,

1:41:45 driven out of them.

1:41:46 Uh,

1:41:46 so I think that,

1:41:47 the other support that

1:41:48 governments can really do is,

1:41:50 um,

1:41:50 how do they work with,

1:41:51 how do we,

1:41:51 how do they do the behavior change?

1:41:53 How do they incentivize people upstream to actually

1:41:55 segregate this waste stream so they can be used

1:41:57 in a circular economy fashion downstream.

1:42:00 Thank you.

1:42:01 Thank you,

1:42:02 thank you.

1:42:02 And finally,

1:42:03 James,

1:42:03 um,

1:42:04 in the Pacific Coast

1:42:05 or elsewhere that you've worked,

1:42:07 um,

1:42:07 I know that you work across

1:42:09 many different stakeholder groups.

1:42:11 What's your experience?

1:42:12 What would you,

1:42:13 you know,

1:42:14 maybe like,

1:42:14 and this is kind of a question for us because we work with policymakers all the time.

1:42:18 And so,

1:42:19 we

1:42:19 obviously need better ideas from the ground

1:42:22 on what they can do better,

1:42:23 what we can propose,

1:42:24 what we can recommend,

1:42:24 and so on.

1:42:25 So,

1:42:26 James,

1:42:26 maybe you could also share a little bit of your experience

1:42:29 on that,

1:42:29 and then we're gonna move right into the,

1:42:31 the,

1:42:31 the Q&A.

1:42:33 Absolutely.

1:42:34 I think,

1:42:35 uh,

1:42:36 looking at food waste and food surplus solutions,

1:42:39 uh,

1:42:39 I like to,

1:42:40 I guess,

1:42:40 pardon the pun,

1:42:41 look at it in terms of a solution pie.

1:42:44 Uh,

1:42:44 totally agree with Claire,

1:42:45 uh,

1:42:46 incentives are critical to making progress that's not,

1:42:48 not just gonna be undone by our next,

1:42:50 uh,

1:42:51 the next group of politicians that come into play.

1:42:53 Uh,

1:42:53 but also with Steven,

1:42:54 technical assistance is another piece of that solution pie that needs to be

1:42:58 a part of that wider solution.

1:43:00 Um.

1:43:01 I think

1:43:02 there's a bit of a tightrope that policymakers need to walk.

1:43:04 Like,

1:43:05 how do you

1:43:05 implement policy that makes progress

1:43:08 in impacting the environment positively while not also stunting business growth,

1:43:12 alienating business owners,

1:43:13 and

1:43:14 potentially causing financial burden on businesses to the point where operations

1:43:19 aren't profitable.

1:43:20 Um,

1:43:21 policymakers need to engage with businesses in a format where,

1:43:25 uh,

1:43:25 those businesses are encouraged to,

1:43:27 to make changes on their own.

1:43:29 So this will allow for more ingenuity,

1:43:31 uh,

1:43:32 it avoids handing down,

1:43:33 uh,

1:43:34 heavy policy that could be detrimental.

1:43:36 Uh,

1:43:37 there are some examples of this within the Pacific Coast Collaborative

1:43:40 with policies that will soon be enacted on the

1:43:42 West Coast that could actually cause more food waste

1:43:45 for retailers.

1:43:47 Um,

1:43:48 So,

1:43:49 at the same time,

1:43:49 agreeing on a solution doesn't make it happen.

1:43:51 You know,

1:43:51 policymakers need to provide

1:43:53 tools for these businesses to succeed.

1:43:55 So,

1:43:56 among the working groups we've created within the Pacific Coast Collaborative,

1:44:00 we've also formed a policy roundtable to provide a forum

1:44:04 for businesses to engage with,

1:44:06 with state and the city.

1:44:08 Partners to talk through

1:44:10 the roadblocks and challenges faced at both the private

1:44:13 and the public levels.

1:44:14 Uh,

1:44:14 uh,

1:44:15 it's not more of a complaining session,

1:44:17 but more of an engagement and how do we work through safe with food recovery.

1:44:21 You know,

1:44:21 businesses have,

1:44:22 have an issue with food safety and how do we make sure the food's safe,

1:44:24 but at the same time,

1:44:26 policy,

1:44:26 at the policy level,

1:44:27 they want to make sure that all the food possible is going

1:44:29 out the door to people who actually need it and not.

1:44:31 Going

1:44:31 to lower levels of the hierarchy.

1:44:33 So it's really about making sure that all the players

1:44:36 in the field are sitting down at the same exact table

1:44:39 and hashing everything out and making sure that the policy,

1:44:41 I think,

1:44:42 is,

1:44:42 is progressively and positively driven

1:44:44 and is agreed upon to understand the causes and effects of them,

1:44:48 while at the same time making sure that businesses have the tools to

1:44:51 succeed when they want to enact those policies down down the road.

1:44:56 Excellent,

1:44:56 thank you.

1:44:57 Um,

1:44:58 Claire,

1:44:59 you said you wanted to jump in with just one last point.

1:45:02 Yeah,

1:45:02 and you know,

1:45:02 we can,

1:45:03 we can blame government,

1:45:04 right?

1:45:04 And we,

1:45:05 and that's,

1:45:06 that's fun to do.

1:45:07 But,

1:45:07 um,

1:45:08 but,

1:45:08 but I also think,

1:45:09 uh,

1:45:10 you know,

1:45:10 in that,

1:45:11 you know,

1:45:11 in,

1:45:11 in saying that government should incentivize industry,

1:45:14 I,

1:45:14 I firmly believe that.

1:45:16 Uh,

1:45:16 but I also think that we,

1:45:18 especially we in the packaging industry,

1:45:20 uh,

1:45:20 need to,

1:45:21 um,

1:45:22 frankly own up to,

1:45:23 um,

1:45:24 A massive and quite successful job we've done in uh miscommunicating

1:45:29 on to consumers.

1:45:30 Uh,

1:45:30 we've done a fantastic job in the packaging industry of confusing consumers,

1:45:35 right?

1:45:35 Um,

1:45:36 creating material wars for frankly,

1:45:39 you know,

1:45:39 like glass versus plastic versus

1:45:41 whatever.

1:45:42 Uh,

1:45:43 we've,

1:45:43 we've added such an incredible layer of confusion,

1:45:46 right?

1:45:46 And frankly,

1:45:47 that's not been helpful,

1:45:49 right?

1:45:49 And so,

1:45:50 uh,

1:45:51 with that,

1:45:51 you know,

1:45:52 with industry incentivizing,

1:45:53 um,

1:45:54 Or sorry,

1:45:54 governments incentivizing industry.

1:45:56 I think industry has to be

1:45:58 uh much more ethical in,

1:46:00 in terms of how we address food waste,

1:46:02 but also uh how we address packaging waste,

1:46:06 uh,

1:46:06 and,

1:46:07 um,

1:46:07 and,

1:46:08 and just

1:46:09 really be more responsible,

1:46:10 you know.

1:46:11 Uh,

1:46:11 a good example is we just provided a peer for peer review LCA

1:46:14 analysis for a client and they were looking at more sustainable packaging options.

1:46:19 Uh,

1:46:19 the one they picked

1:46:20 had,

1:46:21 uh,

1:46:21 you know,

1:46:21 increased greenhouse gas emissions by 460%.

1:46:25 Versus the current,

1:46:27 yeah,

1:46:27 the wrong way,

1:46:28 yeah,

1:46:29 but uh they did that because they said,

1:46:31 well,

1:46:31 consumers want that.

1:46:33 And,

1:46:33 and to me

1:46:34 that was so irresponsible and increased um water consumption by 10%,

1:46:39 but it was just,

1:46:41 it was appalling

1:46:42 and uh that's just,

1:46:44 it's got to stop.

1:46:46 I will come.

1:46:48 Thanks,

1:46:48 Claire.

1:46:49 Yeah,

1:46:49 I think,

1:46:49 you know,

1:46:49 you,

1:46:50 you both make very good points in terms of

1:46:52 uh transparent and honest,

1:46:54 honest dialogue.

1:46:55 Whether it's,

1:46:55 you know,

1:46:56 one group of stakeholders with another,

1:46:58 uh,

1:46:58 or consumers or governments.

1:47:01 Uh,

1:47:01 it's a big part of the work that we do as well.

1:47:03 I'd like to very quickly,

1:47:04 we're running a little bit over time,

1:47:05 but this has been a fascinating discussion.

1:47:08 And again,

1:47:08 I'd like to thank all of the panelists and speakers so far.

1:47:12 Really,

1:47:12 really interesting insight.

1:47:13 Um,

1:47:14 and I'm sure that we'll continue that with some of the open Q&A.

1:47:17 So I'd like to

1:47:19 start with one question that came in from the audience,

1:47:21 or rather a couple of questions which are related,

1:47:24 and they have to do with upcycling.

1:47:26 So,

1:47:27 there's a question that came in

1:47:30 regarding regulatory regulative barriers for upcycling food waste

1:47:35 due to strict regulations or authorization.

1:47:38 Um,

1:47:38 are you familiar with regulations

1:47:40 in the pipeline

1:47:41 that may actually resolve

1:47:43 the issues of upcycling food

1:47:45 and maybe there are best practices.

1:47:47 And then a second question which is related to that,

1:47:49 I believe it's from the same,

1:47:51 same audience member,

1:47:52 and that's,

1:47:53 um,

1:47:54 you know,

1:47:54 moving more upstream into changing the actual production of food.

1:47:58 Do you have any idea of best practices in terms of upcycling food waste

1:48:02 into high-value food,

1:48:03 circular food parks,

1:48:05 or possibly access

1:48:07 across primary and secondary food productions?

1:48:10 So,

1:48:11 a little bit more on the upcycling side of it.

1:48:12 I don't know if anyone would like to weigh in on that.

1:48:15 The floor is yours.

1:48:21 Instead.

1:48:24 Sure.

1:48:24 I,

1:48:25 I can,

1:48:26 um,

1:48:26 when,

1:48:26 we,

1:48:27 we face this all the time.

1:48:28 Uh,

1:48:29 so I think there is a,

1:48:30 um,

1:48:31 there isn't yet harmonization on,

1:48:33 uh,

1:48:34 Safety of upcycling of foods.

1:48:36 So if you look at EU for example,

1:48:38 uh,

1:48:39 the regulations in the EU say only pre-consumer waste,

1:48:41 uh,

1:48:42 can be,

1:48:43 can be,

1:48:44 uh,

1:48:44 processed into insect protein,

1:48:45 for example,

1:48:46 whereas in North America,

1:48:48 everything from

1:48:49 uh pre-consumer,

1:48:50 post-consumer animal manures,

1:48:52 everything can be put into,

1:48:54 uh,

1:48:54 a circular economy,

1:48:55 uh,

1:48:55 model.

1:48:56 So I,

1:48:56 I think it creates uh dissonance uh and difficulty

1:49:00 for the industry when there isn't harmonization and regulations.

1:49:04 Uh,

1:49:04 I think it is,

1:49:05 um.

1:49:06 Better

1:49:08 regulatory approach if governments think about how do we ensure the safety of the

1:49:11 end product rather than controlling what are

1:49:13 the feedstocks and what are the technologies used

1:49:16 because those will continue to change and

1:49:17 evolve much more rapidly than regulation can keep

1:49:20 up with it.

1:49:21 But right now,

1:49:21 unfortunately in many geographies,

1:49:23 regulation says everything from

1:49:26 what are the feedstocks that can be used,

1:49:27 what are the technologies that can be used to convert it,

1:49:29 and what are the safety

1:49:30 uh and quality parameters of the end of the upcycled product.

1:49:34 And I think a lot of this

1:49:36 uh can be achieved much more efficiently by actually putting

1:49:39 um focusing on the quality of the safety and quality of the end product

1:49:44 of the upcycle product before it enters whatever,

1:49:46 whether it's the energy supply chain,

1:49:48 food supply chain,

1:49:48 whatever,

1:49:49 uh,

1:49:49 supply chain,

1:49:50 uh,

1:49:50 it's going into.

1:49:51 And I think governments are doing a disservice by

1:49:54 look,

1:49:54 by over regulating the sector and not allowing innovation to,

1:49:57 to happen,

1:49:58 uh,

1:49:59 with the,

1:49:59 with the current uh focus.

1:50:00 So I,

1:50:00 I,

1:50:01 I do think that there is a big problem

1:50:02 with

1:50:04 Either a lack of regulations or companies like us cannot invest in

1:50:08 uh countries where there isn't clear regulation on what can we,

1:50:11 what types of food waste can we use,

1:50:14 uh,

1:50:14 and what can we convert it into

1:50:16 or even if it's not explicitly allowed,

1:50:17 uh,

1:50:18 even if it's not explicitly allowed in places where it's prohibited,

1:50:22 it also prevents a significant fraction,

1:50:24 uh,

1:50:24 of the

1:50:25 waste stream

1:50:26 from,

1:50:26 uh,

1:50:26 becoming part of the circular economy.

1:50:29 Thank you,

1:50:30 Annie.

1:50:30 Um,

1:50:31 I have a question for James also from the audience.

1:50:34 How do you incentivize larger food producers or brands

1:50:37 to release their data regarding food waste,

1:50:40 um,

1:50:41 and make it basically more public,

1:50:43 um,

1:50:43 that may potentially

1:50:45 hinder the popularity of these larger brands.

1:50:47 So,

1:50:47 it's kind of that,

1:50:48 that,

1:50:48 that weighing of how honest can you be,

1:50:52 uh,

1:50:52 and how can you incentivize them to be more honest

1:50:54 with consumers.

1:50:56 I guess the short answer is baby steps,

1:50:59 uh,

1:51:00 to start.

1:51:01 Um,

1:51:02 what the PCC does right now is it takes the,

1:51:05 the data from our participating business signatories and anonymizes

1:51:09 and aggregates all the information.

1:51:10 So

1:51:11 the data that's being reported out publicly,

1:51:13 uh,

1:51:14 on a yearly basis.

1:51:15 Is,

1:51:15 is all their data,

1:51:17 but it's,

1:51:17 you can't tell whose is what,

1:51:18 which makes it nice for,

1:51:20 for businesses because they,

1:51:21 they can report,

1:51:22 they can track,

1:51:22 they can understand where their issues are

1:51:24 on their own level,

1:51:26 but on a,

1:51:26 on a more public level,

1:51:28 they can't be identified as the culprit specifically.

1:51:31 Uh,

1:51:31 that being said,

1:51:32 uh,

1:51:32 I think the future needs to go one step beyond that

1:51:35 and having everyone just report their waste as

1:51:37 if it's part of their normal stockholding or,

1:51:40 or tax requirements.

1:51:41 Um.

1:51:42 How close we are to that in the future is,

1:51:44 I,

1:51:44 is,

1:51:45 you know,

1:51:45 yet to be

1:51:46 determined.

1:51:47 Um,

1:51:48 but

1:51:48 I'm more understand,

1:51:49 I guess at the same time,

1:51:50 making sure that businesses really understand.

1:51:53 How valuable that data is,

1:51:55 not necessarily to a proprietary sense and that it could potentially

1:51:58 uh be detrimental whether or not it's,

1:52:01 it's a uh proprietary sense of

1:52:03 other business taking

1:52:04 advantage of it or,

1:52:06 uh,

1:52:06 and the image that it has in the public

1:52:08 of being wasteful of all that food.

1:52:10 At the same time,

1:52:10 every single business

1:52:12 uh in the states and across the globe is wasting food.

1:52:15 There's food surplus no matter what,

1:52:16 and then what do you do with that,

1:52:17 that surpluses,

1:52:18 you know,

1:52:18 how is it being utilized or wasted.

1:52:20 Uh,

1:52:21 I think it's gonna be a progressive,

1:52:23 uh,

1:52:23 step by step basis,

1:52:24 but I think it starts with just everybody contributing

1:52:27 and,

1:52:27 and aggregating,

1:52:28 anonymizing at first,

1:52:29 but make that data more,

1:52:31 uh,

1:52:31 palatable,

1:52:32 understandable on that level,

1:52:33 and then and then that next step is then getting to

1:52:36 everyone actually reporting individually what those waste numbers are.

1:52:41 Thanks,

1:52:41 James.

1:52:41 Um,

1:52:42 so we'd actually like to close out.

1:52:44 Um,

1:52:45 and with that,

1:52:46 I would like to very quickly introduce,

1:52:48 uh,

1:52:49 Doctor Julian Lampetti,

1:52:50 Lampietti,

1:52:51 who will be giving us closing remarks.

1:52:53 Again,

1:52:53 thank you to all the panelists.

1:52:55 Um,

1:52:55 Doctor Lamppitti is the manager for global engagement

1:52:58 in the agriculture and Food Global Practice,

1:53:00 where he's responsible for strategic,

1:53:02 strategic planning,

1:53:03 donor outreach,

1:53:04 and oversight for global knowledge and advisory programs.

1:53:07 Previously,

1:53:08 he managed the agriculture and Food Program.

1:53:11 In the Middle East,

1:53:11 North Africa,

1:53:13 Eastern Europe,

1:53:13 and Central Asia.

1:53:15 Julian,

1:53:15 would you like to give some closing remarks,

1:53:17 please?

1:53:18 Thank you so much,

1:53:20 uh,

1:53:20 Nadal.

1:53:20 Good morning.

1:53:21 Good afternoon.

1:53:22 Good evening to everyone.

1:53:24 It's great to see you here and I just love,

1:53:28 uh,

1:53:28 the sort of nature of the conversation that you're having.

1:53:32 Uh,

1:53:32 you know,

1:53:32 the circular economy,

1:53:35 the final frontier.

1:53:37 Let's boldly go where no one has gone before.

1:53:40 I love the Star Trek,

1:53:41 uh,

1:53:41 sort of language that was being used.

1:53:45 So,

1:53:45 um,

1:53:46 this is a hugely important issue.

1:53:49 Uh,

1:53:50 you guys have discussed,

1:53:51 and unfortunately,

1:53:52 I wasn't able to join you for the first part of the discussion.

1:53:55 I got here about midway through due to some other commitments.

1:53:57 But

1:53:58 there is plenty of food being produced in the world,

1:54:03 yet,

1:54:04 Uh,

1:54:05 hunger is rising,

1:54:06 obesity is rising,

1:54:07 malnutrition is rising,

1:54:09 we're destroying biodiversity,

1:54:11 we're destroying the forests,

1:54:13 we're degrading the land.

1:54:15 We're accounting for,

1:54:16 uh,

1:54:16 25% of greenhouse gas emissions in the

1:54:20 process of producing all that food.

1:54:22 So it's not about producing more,

1:54:24 but it's about producing

1:54:26 better.

1:54:27 Right?

1:54:27 And I think that's a central idea to the

1:54:30 circular economy is how do we take this food system

1:54:33 that produces plenty of food,

1:54:35 but get it to work in a better way,

1:54:37 so that we're not destroying our planet as we go.

1:54:42 And a lot of the ideas that have been discussed

1:54:45 today have focused on this,

1:54:47 um,

1:54:48 On our side,

1:54:49 we're firm believers in this,

1:54:51 and we really see two huge levers,

1:54:53 right?

1:54:54 So if you think about the World Bank Group,

1:54:56 the World Bank Group puts about

1:54:59 4 to $5 billion a year into the food system

1:55:03 uh investments and has an outstanding portfolio of $20 billion.

1:55:07 Um,

1:55:08 and commitments.

1:55:10 Now,

1:55:11 Governments of the world,

1:55:13 and this isn't even a total number,

1:55:14 but it's a,

1:55:15 it's a big number,

1:55:17 put about um

1:55:18 3/4 of a trillion dollars every year into supporting

1:55:23 agriculture and food.

1:55:25 And a lot of that money goes to things that are actually damaging the planet,

1:55:30 or are not properly taking into account the good things that could be done.

1:55:34 And so,

1:55:35 our first objective is to use our leverage to try

1:55:38 to influence how all that money is being spent.

1:55:42 So rather than uh

1:55:44 subsidized fertilizer,

1:55:45 how do we

1:55:46 focus on soil health?

1:55:48 So soil that will sequester carbon and do other things.

1:55:52 And all through the food chain,

1:55:53 you can think about different ways where you can produce

1:55:57 goods rather than bads in the food system.

1:56:00 And of course,

1:56:01 what the government is putting in each year,

1:56:03 the governments of the world,

1:56:04 it's just a tiny fraction of the total that the private sector is putting in.

1:56:08 Think about it.

1:56:09 You have

1:56:10 about 600 million farms

1:56:13 producing food to feed 9 billion people.

1:56:17 And uh upstream from those farms,

1:56:19 on those farms,

1:56:20 downstream from those farms,

1:56:21 all the way to when you get those people,

1:56:23 you have industries and businesses and companies,

1:56:26 and all of them are transacting in this business of food.

1:56:29 It's huge,

1:56:30 it's probably the biggest private sector out there.

1:56:33 And the idea that

1:56:35 we need to produce our food better.

1:56:37 And we need to reuse,

1:56:39 recycle,

1:56:40 and reduce the amount of waste that we're producing

1:56:44 is really fundamental to the way we think about this.

1:56:46 So,

1:56:47 we have a lot of stuff going on in this space.

1:56:50 I heard a lot about

1:56:51 uh food loss and waste.

1:56:53 So,

1:56:53 uh we have uh produced a,

1:56:55 a whole framework on how to think about this kind of problem.

1:56:59 And uh I,

1:57:00 I don't know if this is something you guys know about,

1:57:02 but we,

1:57:03 uh,

1:57:03 actually,

1:57:03 the World Bank issued a food loss and waste bond.

1:57:07 So the World Bank is raising money around this issue of food loss and waste.

1:57:13 So that we can invest in projects to reduce food loss and waste.

1:57:17 So we're doing all sorts of cool stuff,

1:57:20 both on the economics and the financial side to,

1:57:23 to really move this forward.

1:57:25 We've done a lot of stuff also recently on um

1:57:28 governance of urban food systems

1:57:31 and other aspects of urban food systems.

1:57:33 And of course,

1:57:34 uh,

1:57:34 traditionally,

1:57:35 we do a ton of stuff in the agriculture space.

1:57:38 Now let me go very quickly since um

1:57:42 We're just about out of time.

1:57:44 So some of the things that

1:57:45 uh I'm taking away from this session are

1:57:48 that we need to leverage uh food loss and waste with new innovative business models,

1:57:54 uh,

1:57:54 that increase efficiencies,

1:57:55 uh,

1:57:56 increase,

1:57:57 uh,

1:57:57 you know,

1:57:57 the use of,

1:57:58 uh,

1:57:58 effective packaging.

1:58:00 And we really need to think about,

1:58:02 uh,

1:58:02 rethink the way we approach the sector.

1:58:04 We need to,

1:58:05 uh,

1:58:06 That pre-consumer waste is significantly higher

1:58:08 in value than post-consumer waste,

1:58:11 and that there's,

1:58:12 uh,

1:58:13 you know,

1:58:13 a number of opportunities to think about how to leverage that,

1:58:17 that,

1:58:17 um,

1:58:18 we need

1:58:19 to really focus on definitions and measurement.

1:58:21 And I wonder,

1:58:22 by the way,

1:58:23 if we can't use things like the enabling the

1:58:25 business of agriculture and morph it into a space

1:58:29 that has more to do with the circular economy

1:58:31 and the private sector and food loss and waste.

1:58:35 That proper measurement really key to uh managing things,

1:58:39 as we said,

1:58:40 um.

1:58:42 And then there's a whole set of uh

1:58:44 opportunities around inedible food waste and side streams,

1:58:47 and that um the circular uh transition can't be achieved by individual actors,

1:58:53 but we need,

1:58:53 you know,

1:58:54 there's governments and all the resources they're

1:58:56 putting into this to really work to help

1:58:59 the private sector

1:59:00 figure out how to do this and support them and create the right set of incentives.

1:59:05 And finally,

1:59:06 um,

1:59:07 You know,

1:59:08 within uh the World Bank,

1:59:10 we need to connect across the IFC and MIGA and all of the different institutions,

1:59:15 and even with

1:59:16 our colleagues in FCI and MTI and SD.

1:59:20 So really looking forward to this exciting space.

1:59:22 I'm really grateful that you asked me to join you for this.

1:59:26 Um,

1:59:27 so,

1:59:27 so we're gonna

1:59:30 Reach out to you guys,

1:59:31 work with you guys,

1:59:32 and uh see what we can do together to lead us into this new frontier that

1:59:37 we're all interested in.

1:59:39 And uh let me just conclude by thanking uh the participants.

1:59:43 So,

1:59:44 Doctor Thompson for setting the stage.

1:59:46 Um,

1:59:47 And uh all of her very salient remarks on this.

1:59:51 And then,

1:59:52 uh,

1:59:52 for the other panelists for sharing the really deep experience,

1:59:56 uh,

1:59:56 James Proo,

1:59:58 Francisco Palma,

2:00:00 Claire Sand,

2:00:01 Yasmine

2:00:02 Berbeer,

2:00:05 Steven Oeno,

2:00:05 and Annie

2:00:07 Balabahanini.

2:00:09 Uh,

2:00:09 I'm sure I destroyed that,

2:00:11 apologies.

2:00:12 And of course,

2:00:14 uh,

2:00:14 many thanks to my colleagues from Finance and Competitiveness and Innovation,

2:00:19 as well as from ENB

2:00:21 uh for co-organizing this event.

2:00:24 And I'm

2:00:25 very grateful to all of you and looking forward to working together.

2:00:28 Take care.

2:00:30 Thank you so much,

2:00:31 Julian.

2:00:31 Uh,

2:00:32 thank you all,

2:00:32 participants,

2:00:33 speakers.

2:00:34 Um,

2:00:35 we're gonna disconnect now,

2:00:36 uh,

2:00:36 but please stay in,

2:00:37 stay in tune.

2:00:38 We will probably

2:00:39 very likely have another session after this one.

2:00:42 So,

2:00:42 um,

2:00:44 Thanks everyone.

2:00:44 Take care.

2:00:45 Thank you.

2:00:46 Bye.

2:00:47 Thank you.

2:00:47 Bye-bye.

2:00:48 Thank you.

2:00:49 Bye-bye.

2:00:49 Thank you.

2:00:50 Thank you.

2:00:50 Bye-bye.