On Thursday, 10 November 2022, Justine Vanhalst, project manager at Matís (Iceland), involved in dissemination management in the NextGenProteins project and Jacqueline Lyons, project manager at University College Cork (Ireland) and Smart Protein Project Manager, hosted a one and a half hour session at the Food4Climate Pavilion at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt). The session was called: Let’s talk about alternative proteins: Horizon4Proteins policy brief discussion.
Importance of alternative proteins for the future of our food systems
The aim of the session was to increase awareness on the importance of alternative proteins for the future of our food systems. Alternative proteins like single cell protein, microalgae or insect have a lower environmental impact than traditional source of proteins and contribute to the protein need of our fast-growing world population that current food system will not be able to handle.
Horizon4Proteins joint policy brief
The second goal of the session was to present the policy brief that have been drafted by the Horizon4Proteins collaboration. Today, policies are lacking behind in terms of framework and regulations on access and availability of novel proteins to the consumers as well as feed producers. On an EU level, funding for research in the field is happening but there is a need to make alternative proteins a part of the common by defining it, including it into policies and frameworks as well as increasing its accessibility.
Nick Hazel the CEO, and founder of v2food, contributed to the discussion by commenting the Horizon4Proteins policy brief and comparing with his experience about what is been done in Australia. The public was invited to participate to the discussion by direct questions and/or through the online tool, Mentimeter.
Outcome
The Horizon4Proteins session at COP27 was a success, especially in term of feedback received. Being at COP27 revealed how much changes of current food systems are necessary and that coordinated joint actions are needed. The Horizon4Proteins believes that alternative proteins are part of the change and part of our future.
Acknowledgment
We would like to thank Proveg for organizing the event programme and inviting Horizon4Proteins to contribute at the Food4Climate pavilion. A special thank to Juliette Tronchon for her commitment and amazing work upstream and on site at the Pavilion. A thank you also to all colleagues in the Horizon4Proteins collaboration especially Massimo Castellari and Sergiy Smetana our online speakers on the day.
The session is available for rewatch on Youtube:
The video has been seen 8 times, at the time of writing of this article.