Sanjeev Krishnan, S2G’s Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer, was among a small group of political, business, NGO and academic leaders invited to provide comments virtually at a joint Ministerial Meeting hosted by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the United Arab Emirates as part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and the IRENA Assembly.

This meeting is part of a broader effort to set the agenda for three major upcoming global events focused on the intersection between food, agriculture, energy and climate. The United Nations (UN) Food Systems Summit and the UN High-level Dialogue on Energy, which will both held in September, and COP26 in November, will drive international, national, and local policy, action and solutions across the globe to address challenges like poverty, hunger and malnutrition, climate change and natural resource degradation, and the growing global population.

Sanjeev’s remarks posed a challenge to private markets. Catalyze $10 billion of investment in Food and AgTech innovation over the next 3 years to build a 21st-century global food system that is more resilient, healthier, and more sustainable. His call to action is aimed at closing a current gap in funding. In the U.S., we spend 10x on healthcare expenses versus food system innovation. Globally, Food and AgTech represents only 2 - 3 % of all VC investments. Increased investment will support the development of innovations critical to solving two of our biggest global issues - climate change and human health.

S2G will contribute to and take a leadership role in this growing innovation funding ecosystem and encourage the investment community to join us.

Looking ahead, S2G will continue to seek out opportunities to share our perspective at the U.S. and global levels on how public and private sector investment can be accelerated with policy and partnerships to drive positive outcomes for our farmers, consumers and the planet.

Full recording of the Joint Ministerial Meeting of the UN Food Systems Summit & the UN High-Level Dialogue is available here.