2 April 2024

13:30 – 15:05

Amphi 4

Jean Lacroix

For more than 15 years, Jean Lacroix has been a committed structurer and promoter of the energy and environment sector, whether as director, chairman or founder. At the head of these organizations, he has created the conditions for the rapid and effective development of skills and technology ecosystems, enabling innovation and value creation. Now at the helm of Cintech agroalimentaire for more than three years, it’s only natural that this builder has nurtured this research and technology transfer center towards a posture of creating research and development ecosystems to generate, for and with industry, progress towards greater autonomy and resilience. It works to put in place the conditions and structures needed to accelerate access to the technologies and expertise the agri-food industry needs to grow.

Debate: What are the challenges involved in decarbonizing the agri-food sector?

As we face up to the realities and urgency of climate change, we all need to take action, including the agri-food sector. This exercise must integrate the entire sector – from production to the plate – in a dynamic of maximum circularity. The logical outcome is to apply the 3 RVEs (Reduction at Source, Reuse, Recycling and Recovery) for a low-carbon economy, with the aim of making the sector carbon neutral. This goal requires the mobilization of the public, and in particular of all players in the supply chain. It is important to remember that one of the industry’s priorities is to offer decarbonized products with the lowest carbon footprint. Signals from investors, the general public and export markets favor this trend. We are seeing a number of trends gathering pace, including the need to look at and apply a cocktail of different protein choices (animal, vegetable, proteins and alternatives), which are inescapable and intimately linked. The way things are done will have to be reviewed and rethought, in terms of financial models, business models, governance and new technological trends. Strengthening supply chains, short circuits, local purchasing, low-carbon farms, green fertilizers, new technologies and AI, are all major themes. Building bridges and seeking out best practices from around the world are key to meeting these challenges. Action must be taken both globally and locally, through rapid, concrete achievements.