About the workshop

The 2050 Today virtual workshop "China and the Global Food System" is an invitation-only, reconfigured session of the recently postponed "2050 Today" event that was set to take place on April 28th. 

Particularly in the wake of COVID-19, China is poised to take a leadership role in reshaping the global food system to achieve safety, security, climate, health, economic, and environmental goals. The workshop aims to facilitate collective thinking and action planning on a catalytic role for philanthropy in this food system transformation process. It will inform emerging activities of ClimateWorks and our partners in this area.

The workshop will be held on Wednesday, April 29th from 6am to 7:30am PT. Please register for the workshop before Tuesday, April 21st. On Wednesday, April 22nd, registered participants will receive a detailed agenda, pre-read materials, and instructions for connecting to the video conference.

DESCRIPTION

Demanding a better global food system: According to the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land, nothing short of a transformation of the global food system by 2050 will suffice to keep climate change safely below 2°C. This report, as well as other recent assessments, demonstrate food system transformation pathways able to achieve climate goals while also providing crucial co-benefits: Food systems transformation can deliver trillions in economic growth while enabling just economic transitions, and boost animal welfare, environmental quality, biodiversity protection, and human health and safety.

As the world’s largest producer and consumer of food and with growing political will for investment in food system sustainability, China is uniquely positioned to drive ambitious food system transformation. Even before COVID-19, China had begun reshaping agri-food governance, production, processing, logistics and sales at home and in almost every corner of the globe. Now that the virus and its economic impacts are prompting rescue and reimagination of food trade, governance, and supply chains, this session will explore strategic opportunities for China to contribute to a global food system that is safe, sustainable, healthy and just.

The conversation will explore immediate and longer-term opportunities for strategic philanthropic engagement on China and the global food system. It will touch on topics such as the role of green stimulus packages; alternative supply, delivery and consumption of protein; urban food governance; trade, foreign investment and international engagement; and the just transition.

We expect the session will identify opportunities for shared philanthropic engagement on China’s role in the global food system. Collective wisdom and action can help to show that a better food system is not just possible, but within our grasp.

Additional virtual workshops as a result of postponement of 2050 Today event:

• “Brain hacking for the climate: Using behavioral insights to make our strategies more effective” will be held on Tuesday, April 28 - 10:00-12:00 pm PDT.
• "Navigating the social and economic transition: From mobilization to durable policy action" - will be held on Tuesday, April 28 - 8:00-9:45 am PDT.