Live From COP27 with Raphael Podselver of ProVeg International

The Plantbased Business Hour

LIVE from COP27 with the ProVeg International Director of UN Affairs, Raphael Podselver and Elysabeth Alfano discussed the COP27 recap and have food systems finally been put on the UN’s negotiations lists.

Below is a short clip and transcript from our conversation.

Elysabeth: I’m here with the director of UN Affairs of ProVeg International, Raphael Podselver.

So you’re rather optimistic which is good news?

Raphael Podselver: Yes, I’m very tired but I’m still optimistic that we are moving, somehow, in the right direction. The thing is that we don’t have much time. Climate change- you know every half degree, it has massive impacts on population and livelihood. So we have to make sure that we really move faster and that we really implement the solutions that are recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, by the UN Environment Program and by the FAO. Everybody is telling us that we need to fundamentally change our food system and that there is no way that we will achieve the Paris agreement if we don’t do something.

So we really need to have concrete commitments by governments in investing in alternative proteins and making sure that healthy diets and education play a role in schools. In having subsidies and taxation, you know, we adapted to the situation and this is like things that take quite a lot of time. It’s fundamental systemic change but I think that many governments are also realizing that there’s a lot of potential here and that they could also benefit a lot from this. I think we’re trying to push for things to go a little bit faster but it’s a very complex process.

Elysabeth: Yeah I love what you say about alternative proteins and plant-based innovation playing a major role there. I would argue that we will not see implementation of plant-based innovation and alternative proteins unless we invest heavily in the sector. So it’s going to take more than governments. It’s actually going to take businesses, the private sector, and individuals as well. Everybody hands on deck if we’re going to see the change we need in the time that we need it, which is a very short period of time.


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