GRSB President States the Importance of Working Beyond Borders

Ian McConnell presents at the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock

Ian McConnel, President, Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB)

What did you find the most interesting or surprising learning to come from the event?

The most interesting thing is how broad the issue of sustainable livestock is, from trying to find a way to create value from it, to reducing the risk of investor and consumer requests around what we do to be genuinely sustainable. There are also issues around human rights and gender equality that exist in other parts of the world.

What did you learn that could be relevant for the Australian beef industry?

We have a leadership position and a role to play, especially in what we would call south-to-south development. Generally, aid flows north to south, so from Europe and North America into the south. It’s the idea of Australia sharing our insights and our advice across the Pacific and Indian Oceans because when it comes to the livestock industry, our climatic and production systems are more in tune with what we see in South America and Africa. I think we should play more of a leadership role in that space.

How does what we’re doing on the ground in Australia compare to what is happening in other nations?

We're working well and moving ahead at promoting our sustainability. But we're doing it without yet really grappling with some of the negative things. If you look in South America, they're dealing with some of the challenges as well as the opportunities, such as deforestation and land conversion.

Why was it important to attend the event?

The Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has limited opportunities to engage with industry groups, and consumer and stakeholders in the private agricultural industries, so this GASL Multi-Stakeholder Platform is one of the few opportunities for supply chain partners to influence global livestock policy.

We need to be engaged wherever we can with groups like FAO, because its advice on policy matters is generally what gets taken up by places like the European Union and in developing countries.

What were people from other countries saying?

There is a big push in Europe to use trade law to grow sustainability interventions. So we're looking at the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), and you’ve got the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) in drafting now, so they will have trade requirements around sustainability. The FAO is also trying to find a way to provide advice on those types of interventions to make sure they’re outcomes focused, and we need to play a role in helping it do that.

Where are our greatest opportunities to take action to achieve more sustainable food systems?

It’s transparency and traceability. Some of that infrastructure around being transparent with the data is what the ABSF does better than any other any other part of our beef industry. Then starting to embed that in the way we trade, sell and buy cattle and beef is the next step.