Every modern enterprise has it – has AGRO got it? Have you?
The global goals comprise 17 concrete goals that are intended to contribute to a more sustainable world, among other things by eliminating poverty and hunger in the world, ensuring education and better health for all, ensuring an improved environment and climate as well as creating good jobs and more sustainable growth
Several editorials in Biweekly have metioned the UN’s 17 sustainability goals – and in the most recent edition Erik Steen Kristensen wrote that (Our) knowledge can make a difference in the world.
If you look at the homepages of the major enterprises, you’ll get an idea of how this very enterprise intends to contribute to the sustainability goals:
Together with FAO (the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) the dairy industry (the International Dairy Federation) has signed a declaration in which they acknowledge the global responsibility of the industry and express their support of a sustainable development of the dairy sector aiming to benefit the world population. Novozymes has developed tools for assessing and linking Novozymes’ solutions to the global goals – and undoubtedly: There is an increasing need of the products that Novozymes produces – including the traditional feed enzymes and the new microbiological products for a higher effectiveness of resources. In February 2018, Carlsberg was in its sustainability report able to present a CO2 reduction of 16%, a water consumption which was reduced by 6% as well as their most recent bid at reducing food waste: brewing beer on surplus bread!
The global goals comprise 17 concrete goals that are intended to contribute to a more sustainable world, among other things by eliminating poverty and hunger in the world, ensuring education and better health for all, ensuring an improved environment and climate as well as creating good jobs and more sustainable growth. The global goals have been agreed by and are binding for all the UN member states. Agroecology’s research areas are relevant to several of the goals, but goals 2, 12 and 15 are quite central:
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
http://un.dk/da/om-fn/verdensmaalene
The Danish agriculture, food and agro-industry organisation (Landbrug & Fødevarer) also concerns itself with suggestions on how this organisation and its members may contribute to the global goals, e.g. in the report ”Cirkulær bioøkonomi i den danske fødevareklynge”, in which a special focus is on resources: promoting of a circular bioeconomy, including a better (re-)use of resources and prevention of waste. In here for instance the need for “More sustainable biomass” and ”Need for more knowledge and circular experience” is pointed out.
I think most people in the department are familiar with AGRO’s research activity at both Foulum and Flakkebjerg as regards sustainable biomass. But we have other projects in which scientists at AGRO contribute to the development of production methods that aid firms in contributing to the global goals. One example is the project “Græsmælk (“Grass milk”), in which information about production, economy, carbon footprints and sustainability on cattle farms is gathered. The project partners are Arla and the dairy Thise, and the latter explains that the purpose is to develop a type of milk for which the cows solely eat grass field products – no grain, maize or soya, which can be eaten by humans. The project works with the company’s visions for the food production of the future – and AGRO’s expertise is central to for instance the calculation of carbon footprints.
AGRO’s business committee has mapped the department’s industrial collaboration projects, and the result is a comprehensive list with many examples of how AGRO supplies the research and development underlying the development at the enterprises towards more sustainable production.
Every modern enterprise has its own bid for how that particular enterprise intends to contribute to the sustainability goals; in AGRO we have a number of projects in which we together with enterprises work towards contributing to the sustainability goals – but there are no doubt more good ideas and possibilities….
Look at Jørgen E. Olesens editorial of 19 May 2017 and Torsten Rødel Bergs article from xxxx