GREENFIELD, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Global leaders from one of the world’s largest industries converged this week at the Sustainable Solutions for Zero Hunger by 2030: A Vision for Animal Agriculture Forum to explore solutions to combat climate change while keeping the world nourished. Held ahead of the United Nation’s Food Systems Summit, more than 600 global business leaders, policymakers and key opinion leaders from a dozen countries convened to accelerate existing efforts moving livestock production toward climate-neutrality.
The Issues: Hunger and Climate Change
The day highlighted the urgent, time-sensitive issues of hunger and climate change. According to the United Nations, the world has just nine years left to curb emissions or see irreversible damage to the planet. Meanwhile, a full 30% of the world’s population lacked year-round access to adequate nutrition in 2020, leading to problems ranging from hunger to obesity to malnutrition.1
Right now, an estimated 811 million people globally face hunger2 and the world’s population is estimated to grow by an additional two billion in the coming decades3, increasing protein demand even more. That demand must be met in an environmentally sensitive way to avoid additional strain on the environment. The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report4 detailed a grim future if greenhouse gases remain unchecked for another few years.
“This is a level of urgency we haven’t faced before, and it’s a level of urgency that intersects social, economic and environmental challenges,” said Jeff Simmons, president and CEO at Elanco. “We’re seeing the interconnection between calories and climate, and how meat, milk, fish and eggs play an absolutely critical role to achieve zero hunger and climate neutrality. Constituents from across the globe gathered to discuss potential ways to collaborate and catalyze change, making this the decade of opportunity for animal agriculture, as we aim to both feed the world and cool the climate.”
Participation from key government officials rounded out the day’s discussion. “I understand the role and place of animal protein,” said Dr. Agnes Kalibata, UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to the 2021 Food Systems Summit. “The UN Food Systems Summit next week recognizes that we need to come through on our Sustainable Development Goals, and this industry has the ability to do that. Animals may be part of the problem, but there are also ways that they can be part of the solution."
The Opportunity
The livestock producers are the only industry segment that sits at the center of both climate and calories. Animal protein – meat, milk, fish and eggs – represents 18% of the calories consumed globally, and 40% of protein intake.5
With decisive action, animals can be a critical, fast-moving solution to positively impact global climate warming through the reduction of methane.
Both methane and carbon dioxide (CO2) are greenhouse gases contributing to the rapid pace of global warming. CO2 stays in the atmosphere for upwards of 1,000 years while methane remains for roughly 12 years.6 By significantly reducing methane emissions by just a third, achieving climate-neutral meat and milk, the overall rate of warming can slow, providing valuable time to address the more complex, long-term impacts of CO2.7
Next Steps
Business leaders from across the animal protein supply chain met to discuss some of the key challenges and opportunities to accelerate action towards zero hunger and climate neutrality. Discussion focused on the four key areas where progress is needed to help enable the Sustainable Development Goal outcomes by 2030: measurement, innovation, market creation, and communication. Companies discussed their contributions and commitments as well as opportunities to identify a larger common understanding on the way to achieve hunger and climate goals.
“We’re talking about the success of the future of humanity and planet Earth. That’s an important topic and it has a huge intersection to livestock agriculture,” said Sara Place, Ph.D. and Chief Sustainability Officer at Elanco. “We have a level of dedication to solving this issue. And I’m bullish on our ability to solve this, we just have to invest in it.”
Ahead of the upcoming U.N. Food Systems Summit and Climate Change Conference (COP26), animal protein industry leaders requested the opportunity to work in partnership with the U.N., elected officials, experts and other key stakeholders to identify and deliver critical solutions in nutrition and climate change that also unlock economic opportunity.
“I believe in the next five to seven years we will be able to reduce the emissions associated with livestock by as much as 70% through innovations across the production process,” said Mike McCloskey, Co-Founder and CEO of Select Milk Producers. “These range from methods to reduce emissions associated with forage and grain production to genetic selection for improved feed efficiency or for animals that naturally emit less methane and finally to feed ingredients that improve feed digestibility or reduce enteric methane production. These are opportunities for the world, whether you have 1 cow or 1,000 cows.”
The Sustainable Solutions for Zero Hunger forum was presented by Elanco Animal Health (NYSE: ELAN) and Agri-Pulse and featured the following experts:
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H.E. Agnes Kalibata
UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to the 2021 Food Systems Summit -
Amb. Ertharin Cousin
President and CEO, Food Systems for the Future -
Hon. Jewel Bronaugh
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture -
Hon. John Boozman
U.S. Senator, Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Agriculture -
Dr. Jim Barnhart
USAID, Deputy Coordinator Feed the Future -
Dr. Adegbola T. Adesogan
Director, Feed the Future Innovation Lab, University of Florida -
Jason Clay
Senior Vice President, Markets World Wildlife Fund -
Dr. Kim Stackhouse-Lawson
Director of the Sustainable Livestock Systems Collaborative, Colorado State University -
Amb. Nestor Forster Jr.
Embassy of Brazil in Washington, D.C. -
Amb. Mitch Fifield
Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations -
Mike McCloskey, DVM
Co-Founder of Select Milk Producers -
Erik Jacobsen
Vice President, AgReserves Cattle Division -
Constance Cullman
President & CEO, Association of American Feed Control Officials -
Ted McKinney
Former Under Secretary, Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, USDA -
Jeff Simmons
Elanco President & Chief Executive Officer -
Dr. Sara Place
Elanco Chief Sustainability Officer
For more on the event or to access recordings, visit:
https://www.elanco.com/en-us/sustainability/animals-are-the-answer.
ABOUT ELANCO
Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE: ELAN) is a global leader in animal health dedicated to innovating and delivering products and services to prevent and treat disease in farm animals and pets, creating value for farmers, pet owners, veterinarians, stakeholders, and society as a whole. With nearly 70 years of animal health heritage, we are committed to helping our customers improve the health of animals in their care, while also making a meaningful impact on our local and global communities. At Elanco, we are driven by our vision of Food and Companionship Enriching Life and our Elanco Healthy Purpose™ Sustainability/ESG Pledges –all to advance the health of animals, people, and the planet. Learn more at elanco.com.
1 https://www.who.int/news/item/12-07-2021-un-report-pandemic-year-marked-by-spike-in-world-hunger
2 http://www.fao.org/state-of-food-security-nutrition
3 https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-population-prospects-2019.html
4 https://www.ipcc.ch/2021/08/09/ar6-wg1-20210809-pr/
5 http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FBS
6 https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/greenhouse-gases
