My COP28. Regeneration and New Leadership Toward an Economy of Life.
It has been almost a month, and I am still reflecting on what we experienced at the last COP 28 in Dubai. The final text has been approved. For the first time, the “transition” from fossil fuels is explicitly mentioned, and this is a step that certainly could mark the end of an era. However, despite the high expectations of more than a hundred countries, there is no revolutionary line regarding an actual phase-out. It is, therefore, crucial that every country make a real commitment to this transition without delay, recognizing that our time is limited and that every action, or lack of action, has a significant impact on the future of our planet. The hope is that conscience and collective will prevail, reflecting the urgency and gravity of the current situation.
The COP of record (with more than 100,000 in attendance, 70,000 delegates, 2,456 lobbyists, thousands of organizations involved, and a plethora of events that breathed new life into the Expo Dubai 2020 site — a magical bubble away from the glittering skyscrapers of downtown) was able to communicate in every form — from sustainable guidelines for food service operators, installations on regenerative agriculture, gardens and vertical farms, to mobility — the desire to lead and drive change to meet the true “green” transition. Communication needs to be supported with authentic and consistent actions. I want to focus on the good that is there. We need to recognize some significant progress made by this summit, primarily related to the importance finally given to the agri-food sector, health, food, and all solutions based on the sustainable management and use of nature, capable of truly taking care of our Earth. Indeed, we cannot ignore all that has happened outside the negotiating halls, for there, I, along with thousands of people, have sensed the acceleration toward change. Are we perhaps entering the era of “Regeneration”? If only!
Meanwhile, the word “Regeneration” is beginning to be present in every context and in numerous conversations: from finance to health, from economics to agriculture. And it is present as we understand it at “RegenerAction”: integral ecological regeneration for human and planetary prosperity, fertility, and longevity.
It is exactly in this direction in which the Future Economy Forum has moved, a protagonist within the “Food System Pavilion” together with EIT Food, Food Tank, and many other organizations, with a very rich schedule of meetings, workshops, round tables, and working groups engaged in a wide range of themes of regeneration and working towards awareness that we need to start from an essential value: that of human relationships, which are the only ones that can create concrete actions.
Concreteness: where truth and trust become essential elements. “Truth” must be relentlessly sought and nurtured with data, facts, and lots of science, while “trust” is the soul of powerful relationships, which is built with facts, those that allow us to make sense of all the words spent. Right now, I feel very confident that we are heading in the right direction, if only by observing what is happening regarding the advancement of concrete projects, the targeting of significant investments, and the diffusion of increasingly large-scale regenerative models.
According to the Jeremy Coller Foundation’s FAIRR Initiative, out of a sample of 79 companies with a value of $3 trillion, 36 percent have already set quantified goals for regenerative agriculture: this can only indicate not only a growing awareness of, and commitment to, more sustainable practices but also a real desire to turn things around. The challenge, however, remains to measure the impact of these and other practices: because numbers are so important in making sure that others take the same path.
But then again, it is the COP itself that has shown us that this is the direction, concretely with the Action Agenda on Regenerative Landscape launched on December 1. An initiative that aims to achieve 160 million hectares managed under regenerative agriculture practices by 2030, with an investment of about $2.2 billion and the involvement of 3.6 million farmers worldwide.
I am less confident, however, about our own Italy, which has yet to shine as we would all have hoped. Despite an initial exploit that left us speechless, its completely marginal position in the negotiations and the annual Germanwatch report released recently, which reports its relegation to 44th place regarding climate performance, can only disappoint us. There is growing urgency for a dramatic turnaround for a country with extraordinary resources that could really make a difference in creating leadership toward an integral ecological transition.
Leadership is perhaps the word I have been thinking about the most during these COP days: “Sometimes it only takes one person to create a global movement,” but to lead the change, it also takes joint action.
It takes “high” leadership, such as that demonstrated by UAE Climate Change and Food Security Minister Mariam Almheiri, who became a spokesperson for concrete causes but also the first spokesperson for a cultural change of epochal proportions, demonstrating that it is time to harness the extraordinary creative capital with which we women — mothers, managers, farmers, scientists, economists, educators, and you name it — turn problems into solutions.
It also takes collective leadership, such as that demonstrated by the thousands of people swarming through the pavilions these days, creating projects and developing ideas. These include numerous indigenous communities from whom much should be learned, but above all, the love needed to protect our land.
Looking to the future, I believe that many seeds planted in Dubai will sprout at COP29 or, perhaps, even more so at COP30 in Brazil, where from the heart of the Amazon, it would be nice not to launch more future goals but to start proclaiming achievements.
These days, Dubai offers a glimpse of what change could be but has yet to be. It is time to look forward with the knowledge and determination to build a future that is both better and possible (it is now clear to all).
If our goal is to take concrete action and produce tangible results for the well-being of our planet, the fundamental question to ask must evolve. We should not just ask, “What am I doing to create change” but rather question, “What am I taking care of” and “What am I cultivating”. My teacher’s answer, Edmondo, a regenerative farmer in Petrosa (Cilento), shows us the way: “the soil”: the Earth. Taking care of the land and essential resources is the starting point for creating a viable and sustainable ecosystem in which all regeneration, prosperity, and thus life depend on.
It is time to talk about a “life economy.”
The Future Food Institute is an international social enterprise and the cornerstone of the Future Food Ecosystem, a collection of research labs, partnerships, initiatives, platforms, networks, entrepreneurial projects and academic programs, that aims to build a more equitable world through enlightening a world-class breed of innovators, boosting entrepreneurial potential, and improving agri-food expertise and tradition.
As we set our sights on the future, there’s a mission that will steer our efforts in the years ahead: “Reimagining FOOD as the catalyst that fosters FERTILITY, PROSPERITY & LONGEVITY of LIFE on EARTH.” It’s not just about understanding and shaping the future of food, but also harnessing its potential to uplift the very essence of life on our planet. By empowering millions and transforming communities, we are poised to make this vision a reality. Let’s together champion this cause, and, with conscious action and unwavering dedication, realize the change we seek.
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