Beyond Factory Farming: Accelerating Global Protein Transition for Climate and Forests

​The livestock sector is a leading driver of deforestation, biodiversity loss, and rising emissions, threatening global climate goals. Alternative proteins offer a viable path to meet rising protein demand while sharply reducing pressure on forests and land. Yet policy, regulatory standards, and investment for R&D remain far behind the pace of need. This session explores global and regional growth pathways to accelerate protein transition and advance low-carbon food systems.

Objectives

• ​Explore how a global protein transition can reduce deforestation, strengthen food security, and align food systems with a 1.5°C future.

• ​Examine policy options, regulatory frameworks, and collaboration opportunities for embedding protein transition into national climate strategies and advance low-carbon food systems.   

• ​Highlight Asia’s critical role, as both the region driving much of the world’s future protein demand and as a leader in the shift toward agricultural decarbonization.  

​Hosts

• ​Good Food Institute (GFI) APAC​

• ​Mighty Earth

• ​The International Vegetarian Union

• ​Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC)

• ​​The Vegetarian Society of Denmark

​​​Speakers

• ​​​Bruce Friedrich (President and Founder, GFI)

• ​Eleonora Fasan (Program Officer of Forests & Land Use, SFOC)

• ​João Gonçalves (Global Director of Protein Transition, Mighty Earth) 

• ​Rune-Christoffer Dragsdahl (Deputy Chair of Danish Government’s Plant-Based Food Grant)