The major Food for Biodiversity conference has come to an end in Frankfurt. For two days, 100 players from the food industry discussed ways of preserving biodiversity. Around one million species worldwide are acutely threatened with extinction, and the loss of biodiversity has a significant impact on the food sector.
Bonn, 31.05.2023: How do we save biodiversity – with this question, keynote speaker Prof. Dr. Katrin Böhning-Gaese from the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Center opened the second major Food for Biodiversity conference “Biodiversity in the Food Sector”, which took place from 22-23 May 2023 in Frankfurt am Main. The figures she presents to the 100 or so participants call for action: The World Economic Forum Risk Report 2023 lists biodiversity loss and the collapse of ecosystems in fourth place among the ten biggest risks that companies will face in the next ten years. According to the World Biodiversity Council, around one million species worldwide are acutely threatened with extinction. “We are living in the Anthropocene, humans are changing the climate, altering the pH value of the oceans and changing the Earth’s surface,” says Katrin Böhning-Gaese. “The combined effects of land-use change and climate change cause the negative effects on biodiversity to multiply. If we carry on as before, the dramatic decline in biodiversity will continue.”
The event was organized by the industry initiative “Food for Biodiversity” and took place as part of the “Unternehmen Biologische Vielfalt – UBi” project, which is funded by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with funds from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection as part of the Federal Biological Diversity Programme. The initiative has set itself the goal of improving the protection of biodiversity throughout the food industry and providing assistance and a platform for cooperation. The international IKI project “Del Campo al Plato” was also involved as a co-organizer. At “Del Campo al Plato”, the focus is on protecting biodiversity in the cultivation of bananas and pineapples. Among the participants were representatives of the scientific community, large food retailers such as Lidl, EDEKA, Kaufland, Aldi Süd and Coop, food processing companies such as Nestlé and Hipp, certifiers such as Fairtrade and GlobalG.A.P. and environmental organizations such as the WWF, the Lake Constance Foundation and the Global Nature Fund.
Alliances for the transformation
So what contribution can the food industry, which depends more than any other on intact ecosystems and their services, make to better protect and promote biodiversity? A total of 16 presentations, discussions in working groups and a concluding fishbowl discussion provided ideas and impetus that go beyond trade: Instruments that support farmers and companies in better managing biodiversity were presented. Lidl and GlobalG.A.P. reported on the initial experiences of 250 fruit and vegetable producers who are implementing the Biodiversity Add-On Standard. The BioVal research project presented the results of a representative survey that provided insights into the needs and expectations of consumers in this area. The focus was also on international supply chains, and the basic set of biodiversity criteria for the tropics was presented, incorporating experience from the “Del Campo al Plato” project, among other things. Nestlé Germany and the Lake Constance Foundation presented initial results from the EU LIFE project “Insect-promoting regions”, in which action plans are implemented beyond farms at the landscape level – this is also an important step towards halting the loss of biodiversity. The participants agreed that this major challenge can only be met through cooperation. “That is why it is now up to the entire food industry to forge new alliances between companies, NGOs, science and certifiers to bring products to the shelves that actively promote biodiversity protection,” says Peter Zens, Chairman of Food for Biodiversity. “The conference made it clear how many good reasons there are to deal with biodiversity and how much knowledge and good approaches are already available. We must finally get serious about the transformation to sustainable, biodiversity-promoting corporate models.”
The “Food for Biodiversity” industry initiative
The Food for Biodiversity association was founded as an industry initiative in March 2021 with the aim of protecting biodiversity and contributing to the transformation of current food systems into sustainable and future-proof ones. The 27 members – including companies, associations, standard organizations, environmental associations and a research institute – are currently implementing pilot projects and working on the continuous improvement of important tools such as the basic set of biodiversity criteria also developed in the UBi project and the recently introduced basic set of tropical criteria. The association is happy to welcome new members.
Learn more about Food for Biodiversity
Find out more about UBi – Unternehmen Biologische Vielfalt
Contact us
Food for Biodiversity e.V. c/o Global Nature Fund
Kaiser-Friedrich-Str. 11
53113 Bonn
Ralph Dejas
Phone: +49 228 1848694 11
E-mail: dejas@food-biodiversity.de