The third webinar centres on the environmental debates surrounding APs. Food is identified as the largest driver of environmental degradation, exceeding safe planetary boundaries in GHG emissions, nitrogen/phosphorus use, and biodiversity loss. APs have been presented as a potential solution, enabling us to move away from land and input-dependent conventional agriculture, thereby mitigating these environmental concerns, and nurturing more sustainable food systems. However, APs are not immune from environmental challenges and in particular concerns have been raised over the energy usage of APs and their reliance on nutrient resources. More fundamentally, concerns have been voiced that purportedly landless forms of production such as these entrench a problematic mindset which sees humans as separate from, rather as part of the natural world. Finally, power related questions also arise: currently, novel APs are predominantly produced at smaller scales. As, or if, they scale, are unequal power structures within the food system still maintained, and who or what suffers as a result?

Through engagement with panelists, this session will discuss the questions surrounding the environmental dimensions of APs. It will ask whether novel APs can contribute to environmental sustainability and consider how and where technological innovations can both help progress and undermine the journey towards more sustainable food systems.