Peak Soya?

9th May 2011 at The Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG

 

Confirmed speakers: Professor Carlos Nobre (Ministry of Science and Technology, Brazil), Dr José Marengo (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais – INPE), Dr Arnaldo Carneiro (Ministry of Strategic Affairs, Brazil), Dr Richard Betts (Met Office Hadley Centre), Dr Anthony Hall (London School of Economics)

 

This high-level meeting by invitation will bring together leading researchers with companies and their investors involved in forest risk commodities such as soy to explore how current and potential future trends in South American climate, land use and policy could affect commodity supply chains. How can the corporate and financial sectors manage these risks and enter into a new dialogue with researchers at the forefront of thinking?

 

WHY IS THIS MEETING IMPORTANT?

Amazonian forests help to regulate South American climate and buffer the region from climate change. With mounting evidence of looming food, energy, water and climate risks to communities, businesses and entire countries, the private sector needs to adopt new behaviours to navigate a course through a diverse and changing set of risks and opportunities. This is needed to help catalyse the shift from Business As Usual (BAU) to a more sustainable future for the region. The meeting will improve the understanding of risk among private sector leaders and provide greater clarity on what these companies need to know from researchers. 

 

WHAT WILL BE DISCUSSED?

What do the climate, ecosystem and economic sciences tell us about the risks to commodities?

What regulatory influences might be brought in to affect the supply systems of today?

How can investors and commodity supply chain companies manage these risks?

What do companies and their investors need to know from researchers to make better decisions?

 

WHO IS ORGANISING THE EVENT?

The meeting is being convened by the Forest Footprint Disclosure (FFD) project (www.forestdisclosure.com), a special project of the Global Canopy Foundation, a registered UK charity (No. 1089110). The Foundation’s work with scientists – helping to apply their research on forest ecosystem services to policy, local community and business needs – is a key function of its Global Canopy Programme, which has been funded by the UK Government’s Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) programme. With primary funding from DFID, the FFD project has just finished its second year and has attracted responses to its disclosure request from 78 international companies involved in the supply chains of timber, soy, cattle products, palm oil and biofuels. The project is currently backed by 58 endorsers who collectively manage $5.6 trillion in assets.