Title : Transformative innovation on plant-based solutions to satisfy core-human needs can Shift the needle on climate change
Abstract:
At the UN Climate Change Conference COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh in November 2022, government delegates and a variety of experts highlighted crucial innovative approaches to tackle climate change notably in the areas of energy, food and buildings at Global Innovation Hub (UGIH) dialogues organized by the UN Climate Change secretariat.Sustainable food production systems and sustainable construction materials are two key areas in which impacts can be made to significantly shift the needle in terms of slashing greenhouse gas emissions and building resilience to climate change, while making progress on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.In these sectors, proven technologies such as beans and bamboo exist which have major potential to alleviate the climate crisis. The challenge is to quickly overcome barriers and to scale up transformative solutions to climate change so that the global economy can be decarbonized by 2050 and societies can be made resilient to impacts of climate change including more heatwaves, floods and droughts. One way to do this is through intelligent matchmaking and coalition building between institutions, companies, and governments. At COP27, the UN Climate Change secretariat launched version 1.0 of the Virtual Hub site - a tool for collating government entities’ demand for climate and sustainability solutions. Co-designed with the Amazon Web Services Innovation Studio and Open Earth Foundation, version 1.0 of the platform is designed to be a platform of global ambitions to tackle climate change. This presentation at the 7th Edition of Global Congress on Plant Biology and Biotechnology will elaborate on key results of discussions on two focus areas at the UGIH Dialogues in Sharm el-Sheikh: promoting beans as one of the world’s most sustainable foods and betting on bamboo as a highly sustainable building material.
