The 2019 European Cocoa Forum in Lisbon in September will gather key players to look at climate change in the industry and other challenges in the first of four panel discussions.
This year’s event, which runs from September 17 to 19 at the Pestana Palace, will bring together senior figures from the European cocoa and chocolate industry, high-level government officials from cocoa producing countries together with representatives of the EU and international institutions, cocoa-related organisations and civil society.
Climate agenda
The topic of the first panel discussion will be how can the industry best address the cocoa supply’s chain climate agenda and reduce its carbon footprint.
Confirmed panellists include: Steven Retzlaff (ECA Chairman and President of Global Cocoa at Barry Callebaut), Alain-Richard Donwahi (Minister of Waters and Forests of Ivory Coast), Beatriz Yordi (Director, EU Commission, DG CLIMA), Soetanto Abdoellah (Chairman, Indonesian Cocoa Board), Renat Heuberger (CEO, South Pole) and Emily Black (Professor, University of Reading).
They will be among the 200 attendees taking an active part in wide-ranging debates on important issues ‘that really matter for today’s and tomorrow’s cocoa and chocolate industry’.
Other topics of discussion will include:
- How will the EU 2030 goals for building a low carbon economy impact the way in which the European cocoa industry operates?
- How can we better use the EU tools related to the Emissions Trading System, the Product Environmental Footprint and the Life Cycle Assessment?
- How to adapt business operations and supply chain practices to be prepared for tomorrow’s changes?
- What is the business case for climate actions, and what are the key remediation actions to take to best address the identified climate risks and opportunities?
- How to better understand the complex interactions between cocoa cultivation, climate change and the hydrological cycle?
- How can the industry work together with the EU and cocoa producing authorities to improve soil quality and limit the adverse effects of climate change?
- What is the Indonesian strategy to protect and safeguard cocoa production?
More panels will be announced soon with topics ranging from the impact of new technologies on price behavior in cocoa; how blockchain matters; to how value can be captured in cocoa.
Registration for the event is now open at www.eurococoa.com.