The Sustainable Solutions for Zero Hunger by 2030: A Vision for Animal Agriculture Forum united global leaders this week to tackle food insecurity and climate change.
With more than 600 industry giants and representatives from 12 countries in attendance, the goal was to accelerate efforts to achieve net zero carbon-dioxide emissions in livestock production, a Business Wire release said.
“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,” Elanco President and CEO Jeff Simmons said in the release. “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.”
Underscoring the need for change, the release said, 30% of the world’s population suffered food insecurity at some point during 2020, which led to hunger, obesity and malnutrition. An estimated 811 million people struggle with hunger issues worldwide, a problem expected to exacerbate as the global population expands by almost 2 billion in future decades.
To meet the demand for protein will take environmentally friendly solutions, the release said.
The forum preceded next week's UN Food Systems Summit, which also prioritizes the need to reduce emissions or risk irreversible harm to the planet.