3rd Global Sustainable Rice Conference and Exhibition 2024 Highlights Sustainable Transformation in the Rice Sector

The conference emphasized the need to align rice production with the Paris Agreement, UN SDGs, and other pledges, as well as its critical role in sustainable food systems and climate action. The discussions ranged from sustainable practices for smallholder farmers to advancements in MRV systems for tracking and reducing rice emissions. The event explored climate financing and carbon markets to fund low-emission rice technologies and the need for scalable investments.

Bangkok, Thailand — 26-27 November 2024. The 3rd Global Sustainable Rice Conference and Exhibition 2024 (SRP Conference 2024), held under the theme “Sustainable Rice: Food, Climate and People,” convened global experts, policymakers, researchers, and industry leaders at the United Nations Conference Centre. With rice touching the lives of over half the world’s population, the event emphasized the crop’s role in sustainable food systems and combating climate change.

Yvonne Pinto, Director General of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), delivered a keynote during the conference’s opening ceremony. She underscored the urgent need to transform the global rice sector to align with the Paris Agreement and the Methane Pledge. She emphasized rice’s connection to multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals, highlighting its critical importance in fostering sustainable development while addressing climate challenges.

During the conference, Kazuki Saito, Senior Scientist at IRRI, joined in on conversations highlighting innovations in sustainable rice production tailored to smallholder farmers, including “Zero-burning” residue management techniques. He engaged with the panelists and audience on IRRI’s ongoing research activities that deliver tangible environmental, economic, and health benefits to pave the way for scalable and sustainable practices. They include low GI rice varieties, straw management options, the ORYZA model, and approaches to co-developed agronomic solutions used under the CGIAR initiative ‘Excellence in Agronomy’.

Throughout the event, the discussions…