It is no exaggeration to say that climate change will be the second most important issue for global leaders in 2021. Under normal circumstances, it will be second only to the worldwide challenge of stopping the new coronavirus pandemic. Let’s get to the evidence.

President Joe Biden will bring together 40 heads of state on the same screen at the Leaders Summit on Climate. The virtual summit will take place April 22-23.  It is the second international move from the White House since the Democrat’s inauguration. The first was to return the United States to the Paris Agreement. Green signs of Washington’s new foreign policy.

The event will gauge national governments’ temperature not to let the environmental agenda melt away at the next United Nations conference. The so-called COP-26 will start on November 1 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Between the two conferences on either side of the North Atlantic, sustainability will still be a central theme of the Food Systems Summit. The stage will be the 76th General UN Assembly, from September 14 to 30. The idea will be to seek food export and import countries’ commitment to promoting responsible agro-industrial systems.

The fact is that agriculture and sustainability will be together on the international summit circuit in 2021. And this pairing is a priority and is being closely monitored by the Brazilian Coffee Exporters Council (Cecafé).

Through its Social Responsibility and Sustainability Committee (RSS), the entity develops concrete projects to promote the best agricultural practices, coffee growers‘ well-being, and the socio-environmental responsibility of exporting companies.

It is the case of programs such as Produtor Informado, Criança do Café na Escola, and Café Seguro (Informed Producer, Coffee’s Child at School, and Safe Coffee). These are just examples of Cecafé’s contributions to the sustainability and safety of each bean that leaves coffee plantations in Brazil and reaches more than 120 international destinations every harvest.

The year of the international environmental summits will also mark the launch of new actions by Cecafé in RSS. The carbon balance in coffee production and traceability along the value chain, for example, will be among the latest themes on the project menu. The promotion of good agricultural practices and social inclusion will continue to stand out in the entity’s actions.

Considering the multilateral agenda, 2021 should be another watershed for discussions on social and environmental responsibility in agri-food systems – from preserving native forests on rural properties to reducing food waste in large urban centers.

The agenda will not be restricted to the diplomatic circuit of Western nations. The Chinese government has just published its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021 – 2025)[1]. Sustainable development appears among the eight priorities of the planet’s second-largest economy plan for the next five years.

From the international summits to the Beijing green plans, Cecafé and its members reaffirm their commitment to global efforts to promote social and environmental responsibility in the global coffee chain.

 

Thiago Masson
Sustainability Manager

[1] Global Times. March 2021. China’s 5-year plan to lead the global recovery