Ryan Beierbach (CRSB Chair), Monica Hadarits and Andrea White (CRSB staff) attended and actively participated in the Global Conference on Sustainable Beef, held from September 30 to October 2 in Punta del Este, Uruguay. There were a total of eight Canadian delegates representing various organizations. On September 30th, the National Roundtable community, comprised of 12 regional roundtables (of which CRSB is one), came together for a session that included strategic discussions on climate and biodiversity as well as annual progress updates. CRSB and Europe co-chaired this session. There were also representatives from Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, U.S., Mexico, New Zealand, Paraguay and Uruguay. The opportunity for in-person discussion and knowledge sharing was very valuable.
On October 1st, there were various sessions. You can find the agenda here. Two sessions were led by Canadian delegates. One called ‘Calculating global greenhouse gas emissions from livestock and pathways for region-specific emissions reductions’. Brenna Grant with Canfax Research Services co-chaired, presented and participated as a panelist at this session. Amie Peck with the Canadian Cattle Association and Andrea White with the CRSB co-chaired a session on ‘Communicating success stories in global beef sustainability’. Andrea also participated as a panelist and shared the National Beef Sustainability Assessment and our communications results and learnings with the audience.
The sessions on October 2nd featured beef producers from different regions and discussions around ESG (environmental and social governance), data, innovation, as well as international advocacy. Dennis Laycraft with the Canadian Cattle Association shared his insights on the international advocacy panel.
It was a great week to learn and connect with our international partners and support alignment in global beef sustainability discussions and strategies. The conference was capped off with three different full day tours, including research stations, processing facilities and beef farms and ranches.