Clim-Eat

“If you are 100 steps ahead, you are a leader; if you are 1000 steps ahead, you are a crazy person,” said Marc Coloma, founder of Heura Foods, during an expert panel during Upfield’s second annual Future of Food Conference. Instead of creating additional paperwork at the UN’s 60th mid-year climate talks this week, Clim-Eat spent time with exciting, crazy people, all a thousand steps ahead, behind the innovations that may truly transform our #foodsystems.

This year Clim-Eat is stepping out of the start-up phase into the scale-up phase, which means that we are: 🎯 Delivering major projects on innovation and implementation of climate action in food systems 🎯 Working at the sub-national, national, regional and global levels with our partners 🎯 Enhancing our capacity to deliver the change we'd like to see for climate action in food systems 🎯 Disrupting the status quo further to step up ambition Personally for me, the most exciting part of this new phase has been to welcome new members to the team, and learn from and be inspired by new ideas and ways of doing things. I want to share my appreciation and welcome team members who have joined in the last few months to help deliver our growing ambition, in a fun and business unusual way 🙏🏾 Senni Alho | Daan Schuttenbelt | Martin Simenrud 🙏🏾 Welcome to #TeamClimEat #teamwork #startups #climatechange #climateaction #foodsystems #climatechange

🎉Aaaand Clim-Eat continues to grow! Meet Daan, our new Impact Evaluation Specialist! 🎉 Joining us from London, she brings passion and expertise in monitoring, evaluation, and organisational learning to Clim-Eat’s projects. 🌍 Most recently, she worked for an international development consultancy, overseeing project implementation and gaining experience in a wide range of topics, from climate transitions to development finance! She holds a master’s from The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where she took a cross-disciplinary approach to inclusive economic growth, particularly focusing on intersections with climate. We’re over the moon to have you, Daan! 🚀 Welcome to the team 😎

Hurricane Beryl, now a Category 5 storm, is heading towards Jamaica after impacting several islands in the southeastern Caribbean. The US National Hurricane Center warns of its "potentially catastrophic" nature, citing rising ocean temperatures due to climate change. Notably, it marks the earliest Category 5 hurricane in this Atlantic season. This serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need to support affected countries and enhance preparedness, signaling a concerning new normal. The failure of three decades of climate negotiations is evident in this extreme event. It's time to revamp cooperation efforts to drive the climate action that is desperately required. I discussed the impacts and necessary short and long-term measures on Asharq News الشرق morning show. Let's come together to address #HurricaneBeryl and the broader #ClimateChange challenges. Stay safe and let's work towards a more sustainable future. #StaySafe #ClimateAction Clim-Eat

Calling all food and ag #innovators: Pitch your start-up to a select audience of eager investors, potential partners, and influential thought leaders at Climate Innovation Day! 📅 September 18th 📍 St. Louis Bayer and Clim-Eat are happy to host this event with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center to help bridge the gap between NGOs and the private sector, unlocking new potential for innovation in #food and #agriculture. Your idea could be the key that unlocks lasting change. Register now: http://spr.ly/6046g7RSa ⏳ Deadline: July 31st.

In the last few days, we have shared insights on how players in #foodsystems can unlock private-sector innovation. In our highlighted domains of plant nutrition, sustainable livestock, and next-generation crops, we have, in collaboration with the Bezos Earth Fund, identified 30 promising technologies that may truly transform our food systems: https://lnkd.in/e8VWaZwF. The pathways we have investigated to unlock private-sector innovation are at the forefront of Clim-Eat’s journey to unleash the hidden potential of these key players in food- and ag-tech. 🎯 As our innovation project progresses, Clim-Eat will utilise these lockpicks to further the development of these domains. We are happy to be a leading convener for bright minds with bright ideas for the future of food. Stay tuned for what’s to come 👀 🌱

In today’s update on #privatesectorinnovation: our final domain! What’s the secret? Our third and final domain is 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭-𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬. The name says it all: it’ll be 10 to 25 years before we see this domain’s true impact. This is not to say it’s less important; regulation impedes their development. Genetically modified organisms, infamously known as GMOs, struggle with social acceptability. This reputation is a serious problem for the domain. 😬 While next-generation crops hold the promise of enhanced resilience and mitigation, both citizens and decision-makers alike must leave behind these crops’ assumed infamy and recognise their potential. Innovations in next-generation crops will allow for cultivating crops with enhanced traits, such as drought tolerance, pest resistance, and improved nutritional content! 🙂 In other words, next-generation crops may be needed in more difficult agricultural conditions while also offering magic-like capabilities, like enhanced shade tolerance and using signalling molecules to optimise plant-microbe interactions(!). 😲 It’s a tricky lock-in, then, that high development costs and regulatory compliance may disproportionally affect small-scale farmers, again putting the responsibility to innovate in the hands of a few larger conglomerates! So, how do we 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 this puzzle? (1) First, it is essential to introduce premium pricing strategies and eco-labelling for these crops, which have enhanced resilience and carbon sequestration capabilities. (2) In addition, there’s a need to develop robust market demand and consumer awareness! (3) This means that, as soon as humanly possible, entities from government, venture capital, and philanthropy should prioritise targeted funding for fundamental research in the resilient and climate-oriented crop varieties. By creating financial incentives for development, private-sector investments can be unlocked! 🔎 To dive deeper into the specific actions Clim-Eat recommends, visit the full summary of our paper 👉 https://lnkd.in/eWyUJ5xe 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘮-𝘌𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 #𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦: 𝘩𝘵𝘵𝘱𝘴://𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴.𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩/

In today’s update on #privatesectorinnovation: unlocking domain#2! Our second domain is 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐤. If you’re in the Netherlands, you already know that methane emissions from livestock are a major climate concern. Fortunately, there are super promising technologies for reducing livestock emissions! Unfortunately… the sector’s market structure and diverse local contexts pose significant challenges to scaling these innovations. Luckily, Clim-Eat has identified a few lockpicks to unlock their potential! 😉 But first, what are the challenges? (1) A few corporate players control high-tech solutions and create a significant barrier to entry for start-ups. Again, this power imbalance makes it difficult for new innovations to gain traction. (2) Similar to the plant nutrition domain, profitability in the livestock industry is traditionally focused on volume rather than efficiency, hindering climate-friendly production practices. (3) Livestock has serious cultural roots, which raise questions about the desirability and feasibility of disruptive technologies in many regions worldwide. So, what can we do? Perhaps the most pressing lockpick is updating our monitoring, evaluation, and verification tools. By developing and applying novel MRV tools that can provide timely and credible information about innovations’ environmental, social, and economic impacts, we can move the needle towards accountability for the big corporate players and allow for much-needed innovation. And while we introduce accountability for the big corporate players and help innovators break that barrier, repurposing livestock subsidies to support climate-smart practices can go a long way! Stay tuned for part four in our #privatesectorinnovation series 👀 🔎 To dive deeper into the specific actions Clim-Eat recommends, visit the full summary of our paper 👉 https://lnkd.in/eWyUJ5xe 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘮-𝘌𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 #𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘤𝘬. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦:  https://foodsystems.tech/

In today’s update on #privatesectorinnovation: What’s our first promising domain, and how can we unlock its potential? Our first domain is 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. This domain is heavily reliant on synthetic fertilisers and plagued by high greenhouse gas emissions and market concentration. Innovations in fertiliser production and nutrient use efficiency could revolutionise it! Just check this out: current nitrogen fertiliser production practices account for around 𝟐% 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧-𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. Decarbonising this fertiliser production would have a truly transformative effect on emissions and come with a host of climate benefits. 🤝 But…existing 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤-𝐢𝐧𝐬 prevent the widespread adoption of emerging technologies.🤔 Because... (1) Significant market concentration hinders the plant nutrition domain, with a few large corporations dominating production and having access to advanced technologies. (2) In this domain, corporate financial accountability is minimal, with environmental impacts not appropriately measured or regulated. (3) High costs of research and safeguarding new innovations fall on first movers! This discourages companies from actually pursuing sustainability. Unfortunately, the result is that new innovations struggle to get traction… So, what are our 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬? To unlock the potential of the plant nutrition domain, the most important action may be to advocate for true cost accounting - meaning all hidden impacts on the environment, society, and health are included! Integrating this approach for an entire industry, however, will take time, research, and serious dedication from NGOs and policymakers alike. In the meanwhile, introducing short-term green energy subsidies for climate-friendly production can buy valuable time. By increasing the profitability of climate action, we can build good habits until the larger transformation is complete. 🎈 🎉 Stay tuned for part three in our #privatesectorinnovation series 👀 🔎 To dive deeper into the specific actions Clim-Eat recommends, visit the full summary of our just-published paper 👉 https://lnkd.in/eWyUJ5xe 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘮-𝘌𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 #plantnutrition. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦: https://foodsystems.tech/

Today, in the first part of our #privatesectorinnovation series: What are our main barriers? To reduce hunger by five per cent and reach the goals of the #Parisagreement, #innovations in food systems require an estimated annual investment of over $10 billion until 2030. With public investment slowing down, there is increasing interest in collaboration with the private sector to fill this gap. After all, the private sector often enjoys significant innovation capacity! But… the private sector needs to be steered towards sustainable benefits to avoid an overly eager focus on financial ones. 🤔 Behind this challenge lies an incredible opportunity to unlock the scaling of climate-friendly innovation the world desperately needs… and three domains stand out as ever-exciting in this context. 🧐 And with the right lockpicks, this potential can be unlocked… Stay tuned for part two, where we'll reveal our first domain 👀