Reasons to be hopeful in 2023

On podcasts, in newsletters and at last days of the holiday drinks we’ve regularly heard some version of the refrain “well, 2022 was pretty rubbish” while discussing the year ahead. If you’re taking that baggage into this new year we’re happy to say that, at least from an environmental perspective, there are reasons to be hopeful about 2023.

Here are some of the topics we’re feeling positive about.

Sustainability is heading up the to-do list

For the first time (at least in the history of this particular survey) sustainability has broken into the top ten priorities for CEOs. According to a 2022 survey of CEOs and senior executives by Gartner, Inc. the combined forces of a pandemic and rolling social crises had a profound effect on how our top executives are thinking about priorities.

Environmental concerns, while not at the top, have now landed in 8th place on the list of important areas to work on. 80% of CEOs say they plan to invest in new technologies or improved products this year, and cite sustainability as the third largest driver in that decision.

It’s not quite as high as we’d like to see, but that’s some good movement. Despite a swirling cocktail of ongoing crises putting pressure on purses large and small, we were heartened to see that investment in sustainability continued irregardless.

COP27 was the food systems COP

If you read about food in any great depth it’s not hard to see why experts were overjoyed to see food and agriculture systems take center stage [for the first time] at a major international negotiation. Food only made its debut on the UN policy stage at the 2021 Food Systems Summit so that’s a rapid 14 month rise to the urgent tray.

That focus in COP has been joined by a number of partnerships between international actors seeking to have a real impact on the space; programmes like the FAIRR Initiative that successfully mobilised the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to establish a climate roadmap for the food and agriculture sector by next year’s COP and The Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation (FAST) initiative that aims to unlock climate finance to decarbonize and increase the resilience of food and agriculture sectors, especially in the world’s most vulnerable communities.

This area is ripe for more breakthroughs in 2023 and we are here for it.

Water is finally getting its due

Did you know that an estimated 436 million adults were water insecure in 2021? The study, led by Northwestern anthropologist Sera Young, drew on data from a nationally representative sample of nearly half the world’s population.

Every day it’s estimated that billions of people live without safely managed drinking water or sanitation. And as more water systems are polluted by poor environmental stewardship we find added strain to a system already in crisis.

Add on that climate change is shifting the water cycles with more drought and flooding. This is an issue that will quite simply affect all of us, but until recently it struggled to get into the headlines.

Cue the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York where international groups, legislators and activists are coming together for what is already being billed as the most important water event in a generation.

Supply chains are shortening

The past decade has seen an increase in the length of conventional food supply chains. Our standard methods require more steps before the product reaches the consumer and often place larger retailers at the core of decision making. For context, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, and Aldi topping the rankings. This means that these retailers hold significant power and sway over growers, and that often they have long supply chains filled with many moving parts that can source and distribute food from all over the world.

But shorter supply chains actually mean direct ways of delivering food coupled with more innovative types of distribution systems, providing a direct link between growers and consumers. These shorter supply chains can provide growers with more autonomy over order numbers, a better ability to respond to market variability, and higher margins.

One positive outcome of the pandemic might be that it gave us all pause and forced a reexamination of just how we do business and how fragile some of our systems had become. In the face of an upended global economy and supply chain disruption, the need for more resilient and flexible supply chains that brought businesses and consumers closer together came sharply into focus.

The trend has also come from consumers who are reconnecting with the benefits of more local producers. Research has shown that the reasons why we’re choosing to shop differently include supporting farming, the belief that the products are more natural, the desire to reduce our environmental impact, and because we enjoy knowing where our food comes from.

That renewed push for shortening supply chains not only provides growers with more power but also paves the way for more sustainable practices and less waste overall. There are some very exciting examples of innovative companies in this space. Among them is Odd Box who provide fruit and vegetable boxes filled with oddly shaped produce rejected by retailers. These products are sourced directly from growers, helping them reduce farm-level waste, make money, and reduce emissions due to food waste. Another great example is ReRooted, whose award-winning plant milk gets delivered directly to your door in reusable glass containers.

AI is the tech to watch

Everyday farmers collect thousands of data points on temperature, soil, water usage, weather conditions etc. With the help of AI they can leverage that data to increase yield and reduce waste, emissions, chemical usage and costs. Artificial intelligence can also help farmers with everything from crop yield and price forecasts, to effective and efficient pest control, disease diagnosis and soil monitoring. And it works. Using AI has already helped growers to reduce the use of pesticides by 80%.

Take the Berlin-based agritech startup Plantix who developed a multi-lingual plant disease and pest diagnostic app that they bill as “Your Crop Doctor”. This tech uses images of the plants to diagnose diseases and offer treatment plans to help curb the issue. To date the company have had 15 million app downloads and the tech has helped identify over 385 diseases in field crops, fruits and vegetables.

Across the board AI is set to be one of the most talked about technologies of 2023 (anyone else hear about ChatGPT?). But in our estimation, it’s got plenty going for it to live up to the hype. AI is going to be key in helping to tackle climate change whether mitigating emissions, measuring risk, or supporting adaptation. In summary, watch this space!

Mehrnaz Tajmir is Co-Founder and Chief Science of Greener