Cooperation is key for progress on sustainability, EIIS-IFAD

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 14 - Cooperation is the key to success - without everyone's collaboration nobody can prosper in a society that risks failing to meet its goals, according to participants of the European Innovation for Sustainability Summit promoted last week by the European Institute of Innovation for Sustainability (EIIS), in partnership with the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
    This message, said EIIS Director General Andrea Geremicca, emerged at the event which explored the connection between climate, food and health together with opportunities and innovations connected to the cooperation between different sectors and professions.
    Organized and hosted by EIIS on May 10-11 in Rome, in cooperation with IFAD and with the institutional support of the European Parliament, the summit gathered over 80 speakers from around the world.
    They included IFAD President Alvaro Lario, the Vice President of the European Investment Bank Gelsomina Vigliotti, Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University and chef Bruno Barbieri.
    "IFAD uses its budget to co-fund projects and forge partnerships with the private sector", said IFAD President Alvaro Lario, introducing the event.
    "IFAD is today more than ever committed to take direct action and to co-invest with the private sector", he noted.
    The Institute and the UN agency have announced the signature of a memorandum of agreement providing for cooperation in training activities aimed at promoting and supporting the evolution of management capabilities and know-how in innovation, rural development and sustainability.
    "Sustainability is a commitment and this commitment needs to be recognized by farmers", stressed the CEO of Illycaffé Cristina Scocchia, speaking about the global coffee production chain.
    "Relationships within the production chain need to be strong", noted the CEO of Mutti, Francesco Mutti, adding that this is an essential condition together with partnerships aimed at promoting sustainability targets.
    The country manager of Findus Italy Nomad Food, Renato Roca, said his group's objective is to get 100 percent of its fish from certified sustainable fishing "over the next two years".
    The vice president and managing director of the Mondelēz International Group in Italy, Silvia Bagliani, stressed the "fundamental value of innovation within sustainability" and all connected programs, such as the pact with the production chain which the group has developed since 2008.
    Everybody's cooperation is also fundamental in recycling, said the director general of Conai, Simona Fontana.
    "There is no sustainability without the responsibility" of consumers as well as companies, Fontana noted.
    "We work a lot with research institutes to acquire more scientific knowledge and deliver it to those operating on the ground", said the general manager of Ferrero Hazelnut Company, Marco Botta.
    "These activities are aimed at preserving quality because the great challenge for production chains is to deal with climate change which endangers quality", he explained.
    "We can't go far along the path towards sustainability if we are alone", said the president of EIIS, Carlo Alberto Pratesi.
    "New forms of cooperation are necessary to obtain results", noted Pratesi.
    Columbia University economist, Jeffrey Sachs, stressed the importance of peace and cooperation between States to promote sustainability.
    "You can't have sustainable development in war", he said.
    "War is made to kill people", he concluded, stressing the paradox of a zero-emission tank. (ANSA).