Switzerland
May 10, 2021
The agriculture industry can play a critical role in solving the enormous problem of climate change, Erik Fyrwald, CEO of the Syngenta Group, said at a global panel discussion last week.
Syngenta’s Fyrwald: “We all have to come together to solve this incredibly important problem for the world.”
“If farmers are able to capture carbon in the soil, take it out of the atmosphere, and are able to use less land to grow the food that is needed, that is such a benefit to society,” Fyrwald said. “Being part of the solution to climate change is really important.”
The key, Fyrwald said, is “regenerative agriculture,” a set of agricultural and ecological practices that emphasize minimizing soil disturbance and conserving resources.
“Crops capture carbon from the air and pull it into the soil,” he said. “We need to do that in ways that keep that carbon in the soil and enable the 12 percent greenhouse gas emissions that come from agriculture to head towards zero.”
Fyrwald made his comments at the St. Gallen Symposium, during a session on “Trust Along Global Food Chains.” The annual conference is one of the world’s leading forums for cross-generational dialogue on the most pressing economic, political and social issues of our times.
The symposium is a 50-year-old initiative led by students at the University of St. Gallen, a research university in northeastern Switzerland that has one of Europe’s most renowned business schools. Each year, a team of students at the university organizes the conference, under the guidance of the St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies.
Why “Trust Matters”
For the 50th anniversary this year, the student organizers chose the theme “Trust Matters.” At sessions livestreamed to a global audience, industry leaders, politicians, diplomats, activists and academics delved into topics including leadership, climate change, economic resiliency and global healthcare.
Syngenta Group became a main partner of the St. Gallen Symposium this year, motivated by a desire to invigorate the global conversation around how agricultural innovations can contribute to the most pressing challenges facing the planet. This year and in the future, leaders from around the world will consider how regenerative practices and digital technologies in agriculture can improve soil quality, enhance biodiversity and ultimately help tackle climate change.
Fyrwald participated in a session moderated by Dr. Judith L. Walls, Chair for Sustainability Management and Director of the Institute for Economy and the Environment at St. Gallen University. His fellow panelists were Dr. Louise O. Fresco, President of Wageningen University in the Netherlands and member of the Syngenta board; and Stefan Scheiber, CEO of the Bühler Group, which manufactures equipment for food production.
Speaking to the theme of trust, Fyrwald noted the importance of partnerships among industry leaders, non-profit organizations, academics and others.
“We all have to come together to solve this incredibly important problem for the world—of safely feeding the world, but also doing it in a way that saves our environment, that protects our environment,” Fyrwald said. Noting Syngenta Group’s ongoing partnerships with organizations like The Nature Conservancy, he added: “To do all this with trust, we need collaborations.”
Other speakers at the symposium included John L. Hennessy, the chairman of Alphabet; Vas Narasimhan, the CEO of Novartis; Michael Sandel, the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University; Dominic Barton, the Canadian ambassador to China; and Kira Marie Peter-Hansen, a member of the European Parliament.
A Champion’s Secrets Revealed
Aleksander Kilde, the Alpine skiing World Cup overall champion, who was recently tapped to be Syngenta Group Ambassador, shared some of his success secrets at the symposium, in a session called “What Champions Do Differently.”
Wolfgang Jenewein, left, interviewed skier Alexsander Kilde on the topic “What Champions Do Differently.”
Speaking with Wolfgang Jenewein, a professor of business administration at the University of St. Gallen, Kilde noted that he grows his own vegetables (using Syngenta seeds), tries to sleep eight hours a night and embraces a mix of positivity and clear-eyed realism—especially when it comes to overcoming injuries that require rest and care.
Kilde approaches leadership as an effort to help others be the best version of themselves. “Together,’’ he said, “we can try to make everyone around us a little bit better every day by letting them share their experiences, and be there for you and for themselves, to be the best they are.”
His secret to overcoming fear on the slopes, Kilde said, is intense preparation of every kind. “If I know I've done the job, I've trained enough, I’ve visualized enough, I’ve watched enough video and I'm prepared, physically and also mentally,’’ he said, “then fear is not a question.”
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