Ladies and Gentlemen, dear guests,

I am pleased to take part in today’s Global Food Talk on how to create resilient agri-food systems with circularity in mind.

A topic that has become even more relevant with the surge of the COVID-19 pandemic and recently the war in Ukraine, continuing to impact the global food system.

As patron of the Danish public-private partnership Food Nation, I have followed the development of national as well as global food systems over the years.

Through various encounters all over the world, I have met ambitious governments, organisations, food producers and companies with an active strategy to accommodate the challenges.

I would like to highlight a very motivating example based on the principle of combining circularity, green transition and high technology:

Earlier this year, I visited the green technology plant, SkyClean, whose technology utilises organic waste from agriculture and forestry to make biofuel while opening up a process of Carbon capture and storage.

The technology solves not just one, but two major challenges by reducing the amount of greenhouse emissions from agriculture and producing carbon neutral fuels for transportations like aircraft and ships.

Quite fascinating!

We need to share, activate, and accelerate innovative ideas like this all over the world.

As part of Circular City Week and World Food Summit this talk is about sharing knowledge on the transformation needed to respond to a changing climate with circularity in mind.

Circular practices such as reuse, recycling, and upcycling to transform industries is a central way forward. A shift towards a circular approach is both necessary and inevitable and requires responsive, clever, and creative thinking all while protecting our food systems from external shocks and ensuring healthy and sustainable food for all.

Now, more than ever, we can benefit from the Danish tradition of finding innovative solutions that can adapt to a changing climate and bring us towards a more sustainable future.

Even though we are already on the right path, we need to see change as an opportunity to innovate and collaborate to reach our ambitious climate goals, together.

I am confident that when great minds come together, working towards a common purpose in an atmosphere of trust and collaboration, we will manage to bring new ideas to the table and get extraordinary things done.

Today’s Global Food Talk is an important starting point to share knowledge and experiences within and across borders to take actions and great results.

Thank you!

 

(Det talte ord gælder)