As part of “Diplomacy for Sustainability” and the European Sustainable Development Week (ESDW19), the Embassy of Italy in Germany will host – together with Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition and the Barilla Group- an international conference on food sustainability, with a focus on the Mediterranean Diet, whose carbon footprint is up to 40% lower than those of comparable food regimes. Paolo Barilla, Vice Chairman Barilla Group and Riccardo Valentini, former Member of the IPCC Panel and Member of the Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change will discuss with other distinguished guests the challenges of feeding the planet while producing and sourcing sustainable food products.
Agricultural activities account for up to 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions: while progress has been made in recent years on combating extreme hunger, a growing global population will mean meeting rising demand for food. And as emerging markets become more affluent, demand for higher-quality, resource-intensive foods is increasing too. Meanwhile, nutritional challenges range from tackling obesity to reducing malnutrition and poor access to vitamins and minerals. Rising awareness of diets combining high nutritional scores and low carbon footprints can improve the advance the global food security agenda, to feed hungry people while furthering the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Fixing Food Annual Report investigates best practices in food sustainability across the world. It uses the three pillars—sustainable agriculture, nutritional challenges, and food loss and waste—of the Food Sustainability Index (FSI), developed by The Economist Intelligence Unit with the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition, as a framework. Now in its fourth edition, the FSI has been extended to 67 countries in 2018. Its focus report on the Mediterranean Region investigates food sustainability issues in the Mediterranean basin in the framework of its various social, economic and environmental challenges.
PROGRAMME (the conference will be held in English)
15.30: Welcome remarks by H.E. Luigi Mattiolo, Italian Ambassador to Germany & Paolo Barilla, Vice Chairman, Barilla Group and Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition
15.40: Presentation of the “Fixing Food” Report by Irene Mia, Global Editorial Director, The Economist Intelligence Unit
15.50: Keynote speech by Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, Coordinator for sustainable development, Federal Foreign Office
16.00: How can we promote sustainable food production? Panel discussion with:
· Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, Coordinator for sustainable development, Federal Foreign Office
· Prof. Dr. Riccardo Valentini, Euro-Med Centre for Climate Change Director and IPCC
· PD. Dr. med. Thomas Elrott, Director, Institut für Ernährungspsychologie, University of Göttingen
· Janine Steeger, Conference Moderator
17.00: Conference ends
Click here for the invitation. Registration required by Wednesday, June 5th 2019: berlino.events@esteri.it.
Limited number of participants; no entry without previous registration. Please bring a valid identity card.
Please find here more information about Diplomacy for Sustainability and download here the program of the European Sustainable Development Week.
