The growth of alternative proteins is one of — perhaps the — most important trends in food over the past few years. Protein is being sourced from an increasingly long list of plants, synthesized from carbon dioxide sucked from the air and extracted from insects. Meat substitutes built from these proteins are starting to taste like the real thing, and cuts of actual meat are now being grown in the lab. This revolution will impact almost every part of the food system, from agriculture and ingredients to supply chains and workforces. In this session, we will ask alternative protein experts to look into their crystal balls and answer a question: How will these new developments have changed the industry five or 10 years from now?

The coronavirus pandemic disrupted food supplies and reminded us again that our food systems are ever more centralized. So what does realistic reform look like? Is there a way of retaining the benefits of the current system, including wide variety year-round and low prices, while also engineering a supply chain that is more resilient to shocks and less damaging to the environment? Meet the food microgrid, a new system that combines local farmers, digital distribution and high-tech production technologies to safeguard supplies and reduce impacts.

Fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides can generate dramatic increases in yields — and increases in greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of pollution. A new generation of crops and agricultural inputs help avoid this trade-off. Plant breeders and biotechnologists have created  varieties that require fewer inputs. And entrepreneurs have launched startups selling fertilizers based on microbes rather than chemicals. This session will explore how these and other new agricultural technologies may help feed a growing global population without doing further damage to the environment.

This two-hour, invite-only session features a discussion among leaders from global food companies and investment firms on food systems policies and practices. Topics include the coherence and rigor of Sustainable Development Goals measurement and reporting, internalizing food system externalities and investor use of disclosed information for portfolio management decisions. The session is open to senior executives and investors. Please email [email protected] at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development for more information. We extend our apologies if we cannot accommodate everyone’s interest in the event.

The coronavirus pandemic is bringing to life previously abstract threats. Supply chains are straining under changing patterns of consumer demand and producers are struggling to keep their workforces safe. These are immediate challenges but not new issues. As the pandemic evolves, long-standing questions about the resiliency and sustainability of our food system are getting more attention. Join this session to hear a panel of experts explain how to leverage lessons from the pandemic to boost sustainability efforts, and to share experiences on how your sector of the food industry is coping.

As billions of dollars flow into alternative protein startups, an intriguing new technology has joined the race to shape the future of food: microbes that transform carbon dioxide, methane, energy and other inputs into proteins that can form the basis of many foods. Come to this session to learn how this new approach can drawdown atmospheric carbon and become a component of the emerging carbon economy, while also competing with other alternative proteins and propeling our food systems towards a more sustainable future.

Around half of all food waste occurs in the supply chains that link farmers to retailers and restaurants. The complexity of these systems poses a formidable challenges to waste reduction efforts, but over the past few years a roster of new technologies and strategies have begun to make a dent in the problem. In this session, you'll hear leaders at the companies behind these approaches. Come to learn how changes to supply chains and methods for unlocking the hidden value in waste can lead to radical reductions in the amount of food that we waste daily.

Our global food system is simultaneously a marvel and an enormous problem. Innovations at all levels, from farm to supply to retail, have helped to dramatically reduce the number of people who go hungry. Yet the system still fails to get nutritious food to those who need it. And too often, the food we produce comes with unsustainable impacts on biodiversity and climate. How do we transition this system — which needs to feed almost two billion more people by 2050 — to be more sustainable? In this session, you will hear from panelists who have mapped out the radical changes to diets, food waste, farm operations and many other areas of the food system that can contribute to this transformation.

Indoor farming can sound like a sustainability bonanza. Operating from high-tech facilities, a new generation of companies is growing crops using less space, less water and no pesticides. But there are hurdles to be overcome if controlled environment agriculture is to play a more significant role in reshaping our food systems. Vertical farms, for instance, require a lot of energy, which if supplied by fossil fuels can generate additional greenhouse gas emissions. And at present, much of the sector is focused on leafy greens, a relatively niche market. Leading entrepreneurs will share their perspectives in this session on how the sector can both expand and become more sustainable.

Global consumption of fish and seafood has more than doubled in recent decades, but more than a third of the world’s assessed fisheries are thought to be overexploited. And while the rise of aquaculture has helped take demand off wild stocks, the process brings with it new environmental impacts. In this session, the innovators behind new fishing technologies will chart a course to better ways of managing wild and farmed stocks. Discover how blockchain, artificial intelligence and machine learning can help create a truly sustainable future for an industry that is playing an increasingly important role in meeting global protein needs.