Tony Crooks [left] and Professor Anil Markandya [right]
The inspiration for this project came from a visit I made to Zimbabwe in April 2018, to introduce a type of water pump which uses no fuel, which will greatly assist to provide food security for the people of the nation. While there, I was struck by the vast tracts of unused arable land and, following a conversation with Taurai Tsinaro of Love Zimbabwe, looked for a crop that would be of most benefit that could grow just about anywhere. And I began to learn about industrial hemp.
It wasn't long before I learned of the vast potential of Industrial Hemp, not only as an incredibly useful crop, but also that it can absorb truly vast amounts of CO2 and, treated properly, can lock it up back in the ground, rather like coal in reverse. I talked to my colleagues and, though it is not part of our core business, they agreed to my starting this project with their blessing.
In June 2019, I attended a meeting at York University entitled Tackling Global Challenges. I had an excellent meeting with the very distinguished Professor Anil Markandya, who was a lead author for Chapters of the 3rd and 4th IPCC Assessment Reports on Climate Change, which were awarded a share of the Nobel Peace in 2007. He was also a Lead Author for the 5th Assessment Report published in 2014, and was nominated by Cambridge University as one of the top 50 contributors to thinking on sustainability in the world.
Clearly, there could be no better authority to judge if my ideas would work or not. So I was delighted when, having discussed the details, Professor Markandya said "Well Tony, it looks like your plan can work!"
Since then, things have been held up by Covid-19, but now there is the opportunity to make Climate Crisis Team a:
- Hub for Industrial hemp specialists
- Market place for machinery, seeds and hemp related supplies
- Knowledge base for growers
There has never been a more important time for people, whether they be growers, specialists, traders or Governments, to work together and use the power of Industrial Hemp as a major ally in healing our planet. So please, if you can contribute, join the team!
Tony Crooks
Group Head of Research & Development
Aotea Global