UN Sustainable Development Goals: A new momentum for European agriculture

Tuesday, March 31, 2015
08:45 - 18:00 (CET)

Building on a rich seven year history of free and open debates on the future of agriculture, the annual Forum for Agriculture (FFA) was back in Brussels on Tuesday, March 31, 2015. The agenda focused on the UN Sustainable Development Goals: A new momentum for European agriculture.

At FFA2015 speakers and panellists examined key issues for the future of EU agricultural production, environmental conservation and consumer’s well-being. International decision makers sought to uncover in their debates how to best reconcile crop production with ecological preservation, bringing inventive and stimulating solutions to the table.

Confirmed speakers (in alphabetical order)

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Tim Breitmeyer

Deputy President of the Country Land & Business Association

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Deputy President of the Country Land & Business Association

Tim Breitmeyer has been an active Country Land & Business Association (CLA) member for more than a decade. He chaired the CLA Cambridgeshire branch committee for two years and has also chaired the CLA’s national Agriculture and Land Use Committee and Environment Committee. Tim farms 1,600 acres in Cambridgeshire, growing wheat, spring barley, oil seed rape and sugarbeet, as well as contract-farming a further 3,900 acres. The business also runs a substantial sugarbeet harvesting and delivery operation, rents out 5,500 square foot of office space and has a private shoot. Tim served for 18 years in the Grenadier Guards, retiring in 1996, and is a member of Her Majesty’s Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms, providing a ceremonial guard for HM The Queen on state occasions. Tim was elected Deputy President of the CLA in November 2015.
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John Clarke

Director of International Affairs, DG Agriculture & Rural Development, European Commission

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Director of International Affairs, DG Agriculture & Rural Development, European Commission

John Clarke is director for international affairs in the European Commission’s DG Agriculture. Since May 2013 he has been focused, in particular, on multilateral negotiations with industrialised countries that include the USA and Japan, as well as with Africa in DG Agriculture and Rural Development. In this role, he has also been responsible for relations with Asian and Latin American countries, their free trade agreements, neighbourhood policy and EU enlargements. Prior to this, he was head of the EU delegation to the World Trade Organisation and the UN in Geneva. He joined the European Commission in 1993 as a trade negotiator. For ten years before joining the Commission, Mr Clarke held various official roles in the Hong Kong government, including as the governor’s head of cabinet.
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Franz Fischler

Former President of the European Forum Alpbach

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Former President of the European Forum Alpbach

Dr. Franz Fischler studied Agriculture at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna. 1989-1994: Federal Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Austria; 1995-1999: European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development; 1999- 2004 also responsible for Community Fisheries Policy; 2012-2015, Chairman of the RISE-Foundation, Brussels; 2014/2015: Chairman of the Steering Committee of the EU scientific programme for Expo Milano 2015; since 2015: President of the Board of Trustees to the Austrian Institute of Advanced Studies (IHS); since 2012: President of the think tank “European Forum Alpbach”. More information Website – www.franz-fischler-consult.co.at
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Mella Frewen

Director General, FoodDrinkEurope

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Director General, FoodDrinkEurope

Mella Frewen is currently a member of the EU Commission’s High Level Steering Board for the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability, and of the EU Commission’s Scientific Steering Committee for EXPO2015. She is also member of several food industry-related Boards. Ms Frewen is Chair of the ACEI (the Alliance for a Competitive European Industry).
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Arun Gandhi

Agent of Change & Author, Total Nonviolence

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Agent of Change & Author, Total Nonviolence

Dr Arun Gandhi is the 5th grandson of India's legendary leader, Mohandas K. ‘Mahatma’ Gandhi. Arun was personally taught ‘Total Nonviolence’ by his grandfather through understanding the nature of violence. Arun shares these lessons across the world. He has participated in Renaissance Weekend deliberations with President Clinton and other well-respected Rhodes Scholars and has spoken at the United Nations. He is an activist, author and educator.
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Phil Hogan

Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission

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Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission

Phil Hogan has served as EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development since November 2014. Commissioner Hogan grew up on a farm in rural Kilkenny, in south-east Ireland. From 1989 until he became Commissioner, he represented the Carlow/Kilkenny constituency in Dáil Éireann, the Irish Parliament. Between 2011 and 2014, he served as Irish Minister for the Environment and Local Government. His policy priorities include modernising and simplifying the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), strengthening European farmers' market resilience and their position on the food chain, and developing new export markets for EU agri-food products. Notable achievements during his mandate include: effective management of the EU agri-food market problems arising from the Russian ban on EU food and drink products; new EU rules on Unfair Trading Practices (UTPs) to strengthen the farmer's position in the food supply chain; establishing Task Force Rural Africa to improve EU-Africa cooperation in the field of agriculture and sustainable, responsible rural investment; new rules governing organic production; several waves of simplifying the CAP; central involvement in improving the EU's global trade profile in agri-food, including conclusion of the Canada and Japan trade deals; and an updated EU Bioeconomy strategy. Priorities for the last year of his mandate include: guiding the Commission's future CAP proposal through the co-decision process and improving the development of, access to and uptake of financial instruments tailored to the needs of the agri-food sector.
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Mikael Karlsson

President, European Environmental Bureau

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President, European Environmental Bureau

Dr Karlsson has been president of the EEB, the largest environmental organisation in Europe, since 2005. He is an agronomist and holds a PhD in Environmental and Energy Systems. His research focuses on environmental policy and risk governance and he has been a member of several high level bodies and expert groups on environmental issues under the Swedish government and the European Commission. From 2002 to 2014, Dr Karlsson was president of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation.
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Anne Krueger

Senior Research Professor, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies

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Senior Research Professor, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies

Anne Krueger joined the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) faculty in 2007 after leaving the International Monetary Fund, where she had served as First Deputy Managing Director from 2001-2006 and as Acting Managing Director for three months during 2005.
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Tony Long

Director, WWF European Policy Office

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Director, WWF European Policy Office

Tony Long heads the World Wide Fund for Nature’s (WWF) European Policy Office in Brussels which he started in 1989. Prior to this, he worked in the UK for various environmental organisations, including WWF and the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE), and two local authorities. He has also worked in the USA as a Harkness Fellow of the Commonwealth Fund of New York and a Congressional Fellow of the American Political Science Association. Mr Long is the author of several publications on environmental campaigning.
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Ricardo Sanchez Lopez

Director of Sustainable Food Security, Latin America Conservation Council

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Director of Sustainable Food Security, Latin America Conservation Council

Ricardo has occupied his current position since 2013. He is responsible for the implementation of TNC’s regional Food Security Strategy to conciliate food production with natural habitat protection by promoting sustainable intensification. Prior to TNC, Ricardo was the Colombian Vice-Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
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Alan Matthews

Professor Emeritus of European Agricultural Policy in the Department of Economics, School of Social Sciences...

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Professor Emeritus of European Agricultural Policy in the Department of Economics, School of Social Sciences and Philosophy, Trinity College Dublin

Alan Matthews is Professor Emeritus of European Agricultural Policy in the Department of Economics, School of Social Sciences and Philosophy at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. His major research interests are agricultural policy analysis, the impact of international trade on developing countries, and computable general equilibrium analysis of trade and agricultural policy reforms. He has previously worked as a consultant to the OECD, the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations and the UN Industrial Development Organisation, and has been a panel member in a number of WTO Dispute Settlement procedures.
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Mairead McGuinness

Vice President, European Parliament

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Vice President, European Parliament

Mairead McGuinness MEP, elected Vice-President of the European Parliament in 2014, is an agricultural economist who majors on the future shape of agriculture and rural development, global development policy, the environment, public health and food safety and security. She is also the author of a major report for the Parliament on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy and Global Food Security.
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Amina Mohammed

Special adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning, United Nations.

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Special adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning, United Nations.

Ms. Mohammed was previously Senior Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria on the Millennium Development Goals after serving three Presidents over a period of six years. In 2005 she was charged with the coordination of the debt relief funds ($1 billion per annum) towards the achievement of Millennium Development Goals in Nigeria. From 2002-2005, Ms. Mohammed served as coordinator of the Task Force on Gender and Education for the United Nations Millennium Project.
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Mike Muller

Commissioner, National Planning Commission, South Africa

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Commissioner, National Planning Commission, South Africa

Mike Muller is also a Visiting Adjunct Professor in the University of the Witwatersrand Graduate School of Governance. Previous to that he was Director-General of South Africa’s Department of Water Affairs and Forestry. He represented South Africa at the UN Commission for Sustainable Development and chaired the Water Dome programme at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development.
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Jon Parr

President Global Crop Protection and EAME, LATAM and APAC, Syngenta

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President Global Crop Protection and EAME, LATAM and APAC, Syngenta

Prior to his current role as President Global Crop Protection and EAME, LATAM and APAC, Jon Parr was Chief Operating Officer EAME & Latin America for Syngenta (2015–2016). Before that, he was Head of Global Crops & Assets for Syngenta in 2014 and Regional Director for EAME from 2009 to 2013 and Head of Syngenta Flowers from 2007 to 2008. From 2004 to 2007 he was Head of Marketing and Strategy and European Manufacturing Manager from 2000 to 2003. Before joining Syngenta, he worked for AstraZeneca from 1998 to 2000 as a Factory Manager, Global Product Manager Fungicides and Supply Chain Project Manager. From 1987 to 1994, he held Project and Engineering Management roles at Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI).
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Janez Potočnik

Chair ForumforAg and Chairman RISE Foundation

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Chair ForumforAg and Chairman RISE Foundation

Dr Janez Potočnik graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. After a successful career starting in 1989 in Slovenia as a researcher at the Institute of Economic Research, Director of the Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development (1994), he was appointed Head of the Negotiating Team for the Accession of Slovenia to the EU (1998). He was also Director of Government Office for European Affairs (2000), Minister Councillor at the Office of the Prime Minister (2001) and Minister responsible for European Affairs (2002). In 2004 he joined the European Commission, first as "shadow Commissioner for Enlargement and then as Commissioner responsible for Science and Research. In 2010 Dr Potočnik became Commissioner for Environment. His term ended in November 2014 and he was appointed as a Co-Chair of UN Environment International Resource Panel and was also appointed as a Chairman of The Forum for the Future of Agriculture and RISE Foundation and a Member of the European Policy Centre's Advisory Council. From April 2016 he is also the Partner in SYSTEMIQ. More information Twitter – @JanezPotocnik22 Facebook – potocnikjanez LinkedIn - janez-potocnik-872470a7
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Jeremy Rifkin

Founder and President, The Foundation on Economic Trends

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Founder and President, The Foundation on Economic Trends

Jeremy Rifkin is the bestselling author of 20 books on the impact of scientific and technological changes on the society. His vision of post carbon economy through a Third Industrial Revolution has been endorsed by the European Union, the United States as well as by several chiefs of state. Jeremy Rifkin is the President of the TIR Consulting Group LLC and a senior lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Raed Safadi

Deputy Director of the Trade and Agriculture Directorate, OECD

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Deputy Director of the Trade and Agriculture Directorate, OECD

Prior to his current role, Dr Safadi was the Chief Economist for the Government of Dubai in 2009. Dr Safadi specialises in the empirical and policy analysis of international trade. His current research interests include globalisation and labour market issues.
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Christopher Stopes

President, International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements EU Group

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President, International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements EU Group

Christopher Stopes is an expert in the development of sustainable food and farming systems, policy, strategies, action plans and innovative techniques for production, processing and supply chain development. He is Director of EcoS Consultancy, providing research, technical and market development services for sustainable food.
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Martin Stuchtey

Director, McKinsey Center for Business and Environment

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Director, McKinsey Center for Business and Environment

Dr Martin Stuchtey is a Director from the Munich office. In 2007 he co-founded McKinsey’s Sustainability & Resource Productivity Practice, and continues to lead the firm's activities on water and waste management. In 2014 Martin became Director of the McKinsey Global Center for Business & Environment. Both for strategic and financial investors, he has analyzed the resulting growth opportunities in the “circular economy”
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Pavan Sukhdev

Founder-CEO, GIST Advisory

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Founder-CEO, GIST Advisory

Pavan Sukhdev is Founder-CEO of GIST Advisory, a consulting collaborative that evaluates performance for governments, businesses, and NGO’s. Mr Sukhdev was awarded Yale University’s 2011 McCluskey Fellowship and his campaign “Corporation 2020” presents action plans for rapid reforms to transform today’s business for tomorrow’s world. Earlier, Pavan was appointed Study Leader for the G8+5 commissioned project “TEEB” (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity).
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Cass Sunstein

Professor, Harvard Law School, Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy

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Professor, Harvard Law School, Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy

Previously Cass Sunstein was the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs under President Obama. He is an American Legal scholar in the fields of constitutional law, administrative law, environmental law, plus law and behavioral economics. He is one of the most frequently cited legal thinkers in America.
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Karmenu Vella

Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission

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Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission

Prior to his Commissioner role, Karmenu Vella was appointed as Minister for Tourism in March 2013, which he had previously also held in 1996-86. In 1984 he was appointed as Minister for Industry and in 1981 he was appointed as Minister for Public Works.
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Ren Wang

Assistant Director General of Agriculture & Consumer Protection Department, FAO

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Assistant Director General of Agriculture & Consumer Protection Department, FAO

In 2013, Dr Wang assumed his current position in Rome, Italy. Previously he served as Director of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) for 6 years. During 2000-2007, Dr Wang was Deputy Director General for Research at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). He also served on a series of high level international boards and committees in the area of agriculture and agricultural research.
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Bob Young

Chief Economist & Deputy Executive Director, American Farm Bureau Federation

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Chief Economist & Deputy Executive Director, American Farm Bureau Federation

Bob Young joined American Farm Bureau Federation in 2003 as the Chief Economist, coordinating the activities of the Economic Analysis Team. Prior to this Dr Young was Co-Director at the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) from 1991 through 2003. Bob also served as an associate professor in Agricultural Economics at the University of Missouri.

Confirmed Moderators (in alphabetical order)

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Matthew Dempsey

Journalist

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Journalist

Matt Dempsey retired as Editor of the Irish Farmers Journal after 25 years in March 2013. He is Chairman of The Agricultural Trust, publishers of the Irish Farmers Journal and The Irish Field. He is also one of the foremost authorities on national and international agricultural policy and industry trends; his knowledge, critique and assessment of Government and EU policy is highly valued by the agri-food sector.

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Stephen Sackur

Journalist

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Journalist

Stephen Sackur has been a journalist with BBC News since 1986. Since becoming presenter of HARDtalk in 2004, he has interviewed prominent international personalities, cultural figures, leaders and politicians from around the world. Before taking over on the BBC News Channel and BBC World flagship current affairs interview programme, he was based in Brussels for three years as the BBC's Europe Correspondent.

Agenda

Mar 31, 2015

08:45 - 18:00 (CET)

08:45 - 09:00 (CET)

Opening

Opening statements and handover of chairmanship

Franz Fischler, Chair FFA2008-2015
Janez Potočnik, Chair FFA2015, Chairman Rise Foundation

09:00 - 09:15 (CET)

Opening Address

Mother Earth and Gandhian Nonviolence
Arun Gandhi, Agent of Change & Author, Total Nonviolence
Moderator: Stephen Sackur, Journalist

09:20 - 10:30 (CET)

Session 1 - Food Security

Rethinking global food security and sustainable agriculture: from Europe to the World

Keynote addresses:
Phil Hogan, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission
Ren Wang, Assistant Director General of Agriculture & Consumer Protection Department, FAO

Panellists:
Raed Safadi, Deputy Director of the Trade and Agriculture Directorate, OECD
Ricardo Sanchez Lopez, Director of Sustainable Food Security, Latin America Conservation Council

Questions & answers
Moderator: Stephen Sackur, Journalist

10:30 - 10:55 (CET)

Coffee Break

10:55 - 11:25 (CET)

Keynote Address

The Sustainable Development Goals in the post-2015 development era. Transforming agriculture and
food systems for ending poverty

Amina Mohammed, Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning, United Nations

Questions & answers
Moderator: Matthew Dempsey, journalist

11:30 - 12:45 (CET)

Session 2: Environment

How to reconcile ecosystem services and environmental risk management in agriculture?

Keynote address:
Karmenu Vella, Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission

Panellists:
Mella Frewen, Director General, FoodDrinkEurope
Tim Breitmeyer, Vice President, Country Land and Business Association
Mikael Karlsson, President, European Environmental Bureau
Mike Muller, Commissioner, National Planning Commission, South Africa

Questions & answers
Moderator: Matthew Dempsey, Journalist

12:45 - 13:55 (CET)

Lunch Break

13:55 - 14:25 (CET)

Special Address

Agriculture in the Third Industrial Revolution
• Jeremy Rifkin, Founder and President, The Foundation on Economic Trends

Questions & answers
Moderator: Stephen Sackur, Journalist

14:30 - 16:00 (CET)

Session 3: Innovation

Innovation for jobs and growth through circular economy in agriculture

Keynote address:
Pavan Sukhdev, Founder-CEO, GIST Advisory

Respondent:
Martin Stuchtey, Director, McKinsey Center for Business and Environment

Panellists:
Cass Sunstein, Professor, Harvard Law School, Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy
Jon Parr, Chief Operating Officer, Syngenta
Christopher Stopes, President, International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements EU Group
Johan Schnurer, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Questions & answers
Moderator: Stephen Sackur, Journalist

16:00 - 16:30 (CET)

Coffee Break

16:30 - 17:50 (CET)

Session 4: Trade

European competitiveness through international trade partnerships and global agricultural growth

Keynote address:
Anne Krueger, Senior Research Professor, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies

Panellists:
Frédéric Seppey, Chief Agriculture Negotiator and Director General, Agriculture and Agri-Food, Canada
John Clarke, Director of International Affairs, DG Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission
Mairead McGuinness, Vice President, European Parliament
Tony Long, Director, WWF European Policy Offce
Alan Matthews, Professor Em. of European Agricultural Policy, Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin
Bob Young, Chief Economist & Deputy Executive Director, American Farm Bureau Federation

Questions & answers
Moderator: Matthew Dempsey, Journalist

17:50 - 18:00 (CET)

Closing

Closing statement
Janez Potočnik, Chair FFA2015, Chairman Rise Foundation

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