Dryer summers and wetter springs mean farmers face too much water sometimes, not enough at others. Last winter’s cold snap killed Okanagan peach and apricot buds, which will curtail the yield this year. Record wildfire seasons and floods are threatening pasture and farmland.

Add to these natural disasters the pressure on agriculture to protect the environment, use resources efficiently, reduce the use of nitrogen, grow more locally, support farmers and keep food affordable.

Then add in the fact that by 2030, just six years from now, we’re going to need to produce 50% more food, use 45% more energy and 30% more water.

These challenges are contributing to rising grocery prices, which in Canada have jumped more than 21 per cent since April of 2021.

Yet, there is good news too. Food inflation has slowed, prices rose a more modest 1.4 per cent between last April and this April. Numerous companies are pursuing promising innovations – vertical farming and new techniques supporting soil health and environmental stewardship, more local processing and production, new export markets, new approaches in greenhouses.

So the question is – can we continue to grow the food we need to nourish ourselves, and eight billion people around the world? When we do, can we afford it?

Join us for the conversation – 7 p.m. June 18.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A special edition from KPMG’s Vancouver AI Summit - Vancouver on the global tech stage.

Vancouver is at the forefront of advances in artificial intelligence that are already transforming robotics, medicine, mining, and even permit processing.

In a special edition of Conversations Live, we will webcast live from KPMG’s Vancouver AI Summit 5 – 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, May 29. With an outstanding panel we will delve into the state of AI today, what the future holds, and our opportunities and challenges.

Our panel:

• Brenda Bailey – Minister for BC Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation
• Olivia Norton – co-founder of Sanctuary AI
• Walter Pela – Regional Managing Partner at KPMG
• David Seymour – Vice President and General Manager of Microsoft Vancouver
• Murray Thom – Vice President at D-Wave
• Ken Sim – Mayor of Vancouver

We hope you can join us for the conversation.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Canada has designed 31 minerals as critical – essential to our green digital economy, but whose supply is threatened. From copper to cesium they are in batteries; every electronic device, computer, and EV; permanent magnets; optical instruments; wiring; bearings; run-of river dams, wind farms, and solar arrays; aerospace alloys; catalytic converters & carbon dioxide scrubbers; and medical equipment. Our modern world simply does not exist without them.

As the world strives to electrify demand for critical minerals is skyrocketing. Electric vehicles don’t burn fossil fuels, but they require an average of 200 kilograms of critical minerals each – six times that required to build an internal combustion vehicle. It’s a theme repeated across numerous fields.

As a result, from 2017 – 2022 demand for lithium tripled, demand for cobalt rose 70 per cent, for nickel 40 per cent. The International Energy Agency predicts overall demand for critical minerals will more than triple by 2030 if the world continues to pursue the goal of net zero emissions by 2050.

This is leading to a shortage of many minerals as miners struggle to keep up with demand for responsibly-secured supplies – and to get through regulatory processes that can drag on for years.

Join us 7 p.m. May 22 for a conversation about critical minerals with an outstanding panel of experts working in this field every day.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.