Discussing Climate Resilient Food Systems
In collaboration with GreenBuzz and the Plant Science Center, the WFSC held a virtual event focused on increasing the resilience of food systems to climate change.
On 02 June, GreenBuzz hosted a virtual event “The Need for Climate Resilient Food Systems the resilience of food systems to climate change” in collaboration with the RESPONSE Doctoral Program of the Plant Science Center and the World Food System Center. At the event, speakers and participants discussed the question, “How can science, industry and consumers work together and what can they each contribute to increase the resilience of food systems to climate change?”
Keynote presentations from science and industry started the evening. Johan Six, Professor of Sustainable Agroecosystems at ETH Zurich talked about “Measures of climate resilience for actors in food systems: what is really possible?” He highlighted a study about the cocoa value chain conducted in Ghana. Fabrizio Arigoni, Head of Plant Breeding at Nestlé, then talked about “The path to carbon neutral agriculture.” He highlighted from an industry perspective what is all needed to achieve the goal of zero emissions.
After the keynote presentations, the participants could sign up to join one of the breakout room sessions, where seven doctoral students of the RESPONSE Doctoral Program presented their research projects. The sessions covered three different topics: 1) Can plants switch on and off genes to rapidly adapt to a changing climate?; 2) What tools do plant breeders have to improve the resilience of crops?; and 3) How can fruit and forage production in Switzerland become more resilient? All break out room sessions ended with a lively discussion between participants and the researchers.
