Welcome from EBIC President Carlos Rodríguez-Villa Förster (Phoenix Biosolutions), and EBIC board member Alice Toderi (Hello Nature)

Working together to design policy and markets that deliver competitve, resilient and sustainable agriculture

• Geneviève Pons, Director General & President of Europe Jacques Delors, Brussels

Includes audience Q&A

• David Barton, Senior Consultant, Prospero & Partners

Agriculture is increasingly recognised as part of Europe’s security architecture. Farmers are not only food producers but also the first link in supply chains that underpin food security and provide essential raw materials for a wide range of industrial value chains. As geopolitical tensions, climate pressures and market volatility reshape the global landscape, how can we best support farmers as the guarantors of supply chain resilience?

This session will explore how farmers can be better equipped to fulfil this role, and how policymakers and industry can work together to strengthen agriculture’s position as a strategic central pillar.

• Riccardo Preve, COO, Riso Gallo
• Amy Roberts, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Lallemand Plant Care and EBIC board member
• Max Schulman, Chair of the Phytosanitary Working Party, COPA-COGECA
• Alexander Anton, Secretary General, European Dairy Association

Climate volatility is rapidly increasing the risks facing agriculture everywhere. With climate-related losses in the EU already estimated at around €28 billion per year and projected to rise significantly in the coming decades, ensuring the resilience and security of harvests has become a critical priority for farmers, policymakers and the downstream customers of agriculture output alike. Yet a central question remains: who bears the risks associated with the transition to more resilient production systems?

This session will examine how to reduce yield volatility, improving the insurability of agricultural production and helping to lower the cost of risk across the value chain, including the role of plant biostimulants.

• Rowan Douglas CBE, Honorary Fellow, Centre for Climate Finance & Investment, Imperial College London; Senior Advisor, Howden Group
• Meghan Sapp, Advocacy and External Relations Director, European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture (EARA)​
• Fatih Ermis, Agriculture Lead, Nestlé Zone Europe
• Joseph Gridley, CEO & Founder, Soil Association Exchange

Moderator: David Barton, Senior Consultant, Prospero & Partners

Improving resource use efficiency and advancing more circular approaches to nutrient management are becoming central to Europe’s efforts to strengthen agricultural resilience. Europe needs to diversify its sources of nutrients—producing what it can, importing what it must, and capturing and revalorising nutrients wherever possible. Ensuring that nutrients are used efficiently throughout the agrifood system, whether for people, crops or livestock, supports strategic autonomy, reduces unwanted environmental impacts, and improves profitability. 

At a time when geopolitics, trade disruption and energy price volatility are destabilising fertiliser and feed markets, this session will explore how to upscale the production of fertilising products from secondary raw materials, improve plant and animal nutrition management, advance protein diversification, and position nutrients as a key lever for more resilient farming systems. 

• Oliver Hatfield, VP Business Development, Argus Media, United Kingdom
• Azucena Mainar Navarro, Sustainability Director, Fertinagro Biotech
• Edoardo De Paola, Secretary General, COTANCE
• Max Schulman, Chair of the Phytosanitary Working Party, COPA-COGECA

Moderator: Kristen Sukalac, Partner, Operations & Strategic Consulting, Prospero & Partners

Agriculture is a cornerstone of Europe’s circular bioeconomy, providing renewable raw materials that support a growing range of industrial value chains—from food and feed to bio-based materials, chemicals and energy. In a shifting geopolitical landscape, making better use of Europe’s own biological resources is increasingly seen as a strategic priority for strengthening innovation, competitiveness and economic resilience. Yet across multiple sectors regulations designed for a bygone era seem to struggle to realise the ambitions of bioeconomy policy.

This session will explore how innovation, investment and supportive regulatory frameworks can accelerate or constrain the development of Europe’s bioeconomy, enabling bio-based industries to scale while contributing to growth, jobs and economic dynamism.

• Marco Rupp, Deputy Executive Director, Bio-Based Industries Consortium
• Paul Clements-Hunts, Founder, The Blended Capital Group
• Anne Marchadier, Director Business Development and Finance, European Landowners Association (ELO)
• Julien Honoré, Head of Agriscience and Fermentation, Roquette
• Robert de l'Escaille, Managing Director, Agriland

Moderator: Christine Gould

Reporting back from the parallel joint problem-solving sessions

1. Resilience and security of harvests in the face of climate variability
2. How nutrient circularity and efficiency enhance food chain resilience
3. How agriculture and bioeconomy innovation can couple competitiveness and resilience

Global trade patterns are undergoing a profound shift as geopolitical tensions, economic security concerns and climate pressures reshape the international economic landscape. Agriculture sits at the centre of this transition: food systems, agricultural commodities and bio-based resources are increasingly viewed not only as tradable goods but also as strategic assets.

This session will bring together perspectives from Europe and beyond to explore how trade policy, geopolitical realignment and agricultural policy may interact as the global economy reorganises, and what this could mean for farmers, supply chains and food security.

• Dr Henrique Pacini, Economic Affairs Officer, Circular Economy & Trade Policy Strategist, UNCTAD
• Pierre Merle, NPP Europe Region Head, UPL, and EBIC member
• Nazar Bobitski, Director, EU Office, Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB) 
• Louis Hinzen, Senior Manager, Economic Affairs, Trade & Market Access Lead, FoodDrinkEurope
• Vinicius Lemes, CEO & Founding Partner, Agrolink Brasil
• Dr Venkatesh Palani Samy, Adviser (Agriculture and Marine Products), Embassy of India

Closing Call to Action from EBIC President Carlos Rodríguez-Villa Förster (Phoenix Biosolutions), and EBIC board member Alice Toderi (Hello Nature)

EBIC members and invited guests will convene in a private session to engage in joint sense-making from the event

The discussion will be opened by our panel:

• Karina von Detten, General Manager, Huber Agroslolutions in the EMEA & APAC regions
• Renzo Domenico Pedretti, EMEA Biologicals Marketing Leader, Corteva Agriscience
• Sergi Barrull, General Manager, SICIT Group