What is the most significant change we can do as individuals to make the world a better place? Do we need a change of mindset?
To make the world a better place is a very complicated and multi-dimensional question that includes global, national and local leadership and governance, policy and governance structure changes, wealth creation and distribution, moral , a generational dedication to education, dedication to science and data, imagination guided empathy and diversity, and ultimately any and all things that can bridge the gap between the have and the have nots and democratize access to essential things of life. We as global citizens certainly can vote, lobby and organize, donate, start organizations that can support this progressive in this vision of a truly democratized planet.
But I don’t think that’s the thrust of this question. If we want to make significant change as individuals in a more sustainable planet we need to do a couple of simple things:
First: Break our habits — its amazing to me myself, even with the understanding and dedication to sustainability, the choices I make just as an outgrowth of habit or tradition. Perspectives, behavior, and decisions that are a just a reflex to my upbringing, culture, or learned behavior of the course of my life.
Second: Vote with your wallets. The entire consumer culture is shifting. Consumers, for the first time, are driving change across the entire value chain
I call this now not a value chain but a «values chain”.
Third: Start a company. There is no better time to be an entrepreneur (or an investor!).
Will/or is, agriculture be the most climate change affected sector?
There is no doubt that agriculture — because of its reliance on all the essential climate related factors, soil, water, air and sunlight — will a major focal point.
I believe that agriculture IS the fulcrum for the future where health systems, climate systems and planetary systems converge. And it is how they converge will have profound geo-political consequences. Will this be a world with equal access to the basic human need of food — or — will there be a widening gap between the have’s and the have nots? Will food become a delivery system designed to strengthen the health of our societies or continue to be a flawed design proliferating chronic disease and lost human potential? We are just beginning to understand the true nature of our interdependent systems: our planetary systems, human systems and our food and agriculture systems. But I am convinced that If we get food and agriculture right in the coming decades, the breakthroughs we will have will position human society on a more healthy sustainable, equitable and ultimately peaceful path.
But there is another sector that doesn’t immediately come to mind that I think is going to shift even more: the insurance industry. If your a health insurance company, a life insurance company, or a crop insurance company, or a homeowner/real estate insurance provider, the risk profiles of your core business is profoundly changing as the effects of not only climate change but of a chemical based consumer products culture. 10 years from now, the insurance industry is going to look completely different as they are the ones that are ultimately the one left without a seat when the musical chairs stop.
What Foodshot Global´s biggest achievement? Which are the Moonshots for Better Food you are working on?
Well I guess the biggest achievement thus far is that I got the organization conceived and launched. It’s an audacious concept that requires the world’s leading banks, foundations, corporations, universities, non profits to work collaboratively together to help solve the world’s most pressing food and agricultural challenges and turn those challenges into opportunities for investors and innovators. Our inaugural challenge was called Innovating Soil 3.0 which envisions a fully integrated soil operating system in which advances in biology, chemistry, sensors, machine learning, predicative analytics and robotics can allow soil to be the primary medium for feeding 10B people and doing so with healthy, sustainable and accessible food.
We are now focused protein security and building a global, sustainable and accessible protein supply across agricultural proteins, meat, aquaculture, alternative proteins such as algae, funghi, clean meat for the future.
Víctor, what is your personal moonshot?
My personal moonshot is to create a portfolio of innovative global platforms that put a massive amount of capital to work to create massive and sustainable change. As co-founder of S2G Ventures and founder of FoodShot Global I’m off to a decent start but there is more to come!
Less heady but even more of a moonshot is a dinner I’d like to have. The setting would be Talliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright’s historic home which is surrounded by some of the best organic farms in the country
The food would be cooked by a collaboration between Jose Andreas, Dan Barber and Daniella Soto-Innes. The dinner guests would be The Pope, John Stewart, Jacinda Ardern, Michelle Obama, Paul and Stella McCartney and Elon Musk as well as a trio of singers — Beyonce, Adele and Sia — would sing between courses and we’d all play Charades after dinner. I think my investment platforms are the more likely of the personal moonshots to be achieved.
Why you shouldn´t miss up SB Madrid this year?
There is a movement underway that will redefine how we live and what products and services we value to align to our shared values. This is a global movement in which the sustainability of people, communities and the planet takes center stage. There are few places and events in the world that captures this movement and SB Madrid is at the forefront. I’m excited to share my experiences and learn and connect with others in the movement.
