Danone Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Faber and the leaders of 19 other companies including L’Oreal, Nestle, and Google have taken initiative to find ways to restore biodiversity in the world’s food systems. “In a nutshell, we have broken the cycle of life,” Faber states at the UN General Assembly. He continues, “And the missing link is the biodiversity in our fields.” Faber is among many other Big Food leaders that believe that there is a looming threat to the food systems that feed most of the world, and they are now ready to face the problem.

Why does Biodiversity matter?

Today, only nine plants account for over half of the world’s crop production. For years, these nine crops have fed the world. However, as populations grow, the biodiversity within these crops quickly dwindles. Due to the high utilization of artificially made pollinators, the plants have no need to adapt to different environments and changes. This comfortability can then result in monocultures, areas where only one crop is grown. This type of farming can be fatal to the productivity of agriculture.

Deadly organisms are more easily able to infect large areas of plant life due to the similarity of these crops. Biodiversity is needed to sustain, defend, and improve the production of agricultural plants. What’s being done to fix the problem?

One Planet Business for Biodiversity

Twenty companies have banded together to implement regenerative farming to heal the biodiversity problem. Regenerative farming strives to reverse the effects of climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring biodiversity. With a short term goal of identifying meaningful solutions that support regenerative farming. The group will strive to deter from the reliance of monocultures and will, in turn, create the groundwork for the much needed restoration for other fragile ecosystems.

The One Planet Business for Biodiversity, as they have named themselves, have already begun to strategize on different ways to achieve better biodiversity. Next year, they will reconvene at the UN Convention on Biodiversity to present their ideas.

For now, these companies plan to work closely with farmers to promote regenerative farming. Danone CEO Faber claims that “The missing link between the wild diversity and wildlife, and what we do every day, is what happens in the field.” Moreover, the incentivization of organic soil and pollinators over chemicals will be advanced. This group expects to reintroduce the biodiversity in crops by 2030.

Win-Win situation

It is clear that the increase of biodiversity will lead to a net positive for agricultural production and the health of many species, but how does this help the companies that take part in this initiative?

Today’s generation already gravitates to locally sourced food choices; people are more stringent on the types of foods they eat and where the food comes from. Furthermore, more science conscious CEOs have come forward in declaring their recognition of environmental issues. The investment of cleaner soil and pollination strategies put forth an incentive for people to purchase food and/or products from these companies.

For example, in March 2018, Danone’s North American operation launched a $6 million initiative. This initiative pushed for healthier soil, reduced chemicals, and the promotion of biodiversity. While this initiative did provide food systems with extra sustainability, it also caught the attention of other companies such as Ohio’s MVP Dairy to work with Danone in creating more sustainable foods.

The creation of One Planet Business for Biodiversity is one step towards reaching the challenging goal of reworking our food systems. If done efficiently, the production of food systems around the world can be cultivated in a healthier manner and provide benefits for both plant life and humans.