Agriculture as a global challenge – myclimate talks to experts and diplomats

With this year’s World Economic Forum underway, myclimate managed to catch a number of interesting participants on their way to Davos to talk about the challenges of sustainable agriculture. At the first myclimate Cloud Apéro of this new decade, Marc Buckley, UN SDG Advocate, UN Resilience Futurist and member of the WEF Expert Network, presented ways towards a more sustainable and climate friendly agricultural future.

(from left to right) myclimate's Kai Landwehr, together with H.R.H. Princess Abze Djigma and Marc Buckley

On January 21, 2020, myclimate welcomed Marc Buckley along with a special guest, Mossi princess and climate activist Abze Djigma from Burkina Faso, at the first Cloud Apéro of the new decade. Marc Buckley’s aim of reforming the agricultural sector through effective projects and initiatives comes with a mission to move his audience and demand action. Marc Buckley is a speaker and expert who is much in demand across the world. He teaches and speaks worldwide about various challenges posed by climate change, about the Sustainable Development Goals, and about far-reaching systemic approaches for more sustainability.

 

Listen to the whole talk with Marc Buckley and Abze Djigma as a podcast

 

The way to a sustainable agricultural sector 

Buckley starts his talk unconventionally by conjuring up an image of a positive, visionary future in 2030. His SDG manifesto depicts a 2030 in which the SDG have been met and a resilient, sustainable economy has been formed. In his view, however, no less than drastic reforms of our systems, particularly our agricultural sector, are needed if this vision is to become reality. As Buckley stresses in his message, “we all breathe the same air, drink the same water, and live on this one planet”.

A sustainable society and agriculture, he says, cannot be developed by politics and forums such as COP and WEF alone. We only have to look at the current COP25 for an example of how difficult it can be to achieve unity at these conventions. According to Buckley, an effective transformation of the food industry requires a change in thinking in the consumer as much as the producer. Improvements in industry in the form of disruptive technologies and profound reforms are not enough, he says. We need an overall systemic approach, a comprehensive behavioural change.

 

myclimate “Cloud Apéros”

After myclimate gave a platform to “pioneers of change” in the last few editions, the myclimate “Cloud Apéros” now attempt to cast a more precise look on this change and suggest specific solutions.

The next Cloud Apéro is expected to be held in June and will focus on sustainable, innovative materials.

The whole talk and all previous Cloud Apéro interviews are available as podcasts.

 

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