A biodiversity powered planet: The importance of food system choices — Hans R Herren—Nobel Talk 2025

Find out more: https://www.biovision.ch/ 00:00 Introduction 03:40 The importance of biodiversity 12:15 Our industrial Food System is destroying the planet 17:05 How did we create these problems? 18:58 Business as usual is not an option anymore 22:40 Agroecology – connecting science, practice and movement 27:25 Transforming towards agroecology 31:08 Lack of decision-makers will 35:20 Examples of successful implementation 42:00 New policies are needed 46:20 Agroecology and SDG – how are they interconnected? 47:45 Who stands in the transformations’s way? 50:35 Scaling-up agroecology 53:00 Q&A Session Hans Rudolf Herren is a Swiss agronomist and President of the Biovision Foundation. He earned his Ph.D. in biological control from ETH Zurich and became internationally recognized for leading a successful biological pest control program in Africa that saved millions of lives and improved food security. In 2013, he received together with the Biovision Foundation the Right Livelihood Award — widely known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize” — for his pioneering work in ecological agriculture. He is also a recipient of the World Food Prize, one of the most prestigious honors in global food and agricultural science. Today, Hans Herren champions agroecology as a path to sustainability, equity, and resilience, and continues to promote science-based solutions that benefit people and the planet. Nobel Talks – Designing Progress Together is the first virtual lecture series in the Metaverse featuring Nobel Laureates and other outstanding thinkers of our time. Organised by the Metapeace Association (www.metapeace.ch) and powered by the University of Zurich (UZH) Blockchain Center, the series will launch on the occasion of Expo 2025 in Osaka and will run from May to October 2025. Nobel Talks is an independent contribution to the Expo’s main theme, “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” aiming to foster global dialogue on progress, peace, and societal transformation in the digital space. The lectures will be broadcasted live in the virtual Swiss Pavilion of Expo 2025, designed by the UZH Blockchain Center, an interdisciplinary research center of the University of Zurich. Nobel Talks creates a new form of scientific exchange in the digital space – open, accessible, and global. The goal is to inspire young people and experts worldwide to engage in the Metaverse with future-oriented questions and to experience science and technology as cornerstones of transformative development and peace.