The Coffee Lounge

Make contact with other delegates interested in the same topics as you.  In our Coffee Lounge, you will be able to interact with expert hosts, ask questions of anyone or everyone in the session.  Did you learn something new in one of the technical sessions? Do you want to share your ideas? Were you hoping to make contact with one of the speakers to find out more? The Coffee Lounge is the central place for informal chat and networking.

Each day of the conference will feature a different live online coffee lounge session focusing on a topic relevant to the conference themes. 

Expert technical hosts will kick off the discussion and encourage you to share your ideas by commenting, questioning and taking part in the conversation on one of the conference's interactive rooms. 

Programme of Coffee Lounge Sessions:

All coffee lounge discussions will take place at 10.35 BST

• 11th April:  Zero Loss  Zero Waste - How can we reduce post-harvest losses and food waste

Panellists: Toby Peters, African Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold Chain, Tom Southall of the Cold Chain Federation and Don Cleland Massey University. 

About a third of all food produced for human consumption is wasted. With increasing populations and dwindling resources, this waste is unsustainable. Join this panel discussion where our experts will discuss the challenges faced in reducing post-harvest losses and food waste as well as exploring what can be done to reverse the situation.   

• 12th April: Addressing global issues affecting the cold chain

Panellists: Ayman Eltalouny of  UNEP, Jeremy Tait of Tait Consulting, Ina Colombo of the International Institute of Refrigeration and Leo Blyth of  World Bank 

In this session, our expert panel will discuss the challenges faced by the sector in delivering a sustainable cold chain. They will explore how, by working together, these can be addressed and what practical steps can be taken to move towards a more sustainable future.

• 13th April: Decarbonising the Grid -  How integrated heating and cooling will play its part

Panellists: Mary Najjuma of UNIDO, Silvia Minetto of Italian National Research Centre, Robert Unsworth of GEA and Akos Revesz,  London South Bank University

Although the use of integrated heating and cooling is not yet widespread, it is a technology that offers a genuine solution to help countries move toward their commitment to delivering Net-Zero by 2050. In this panel, our experts will discuss how integrated heating and cooling can be used to decarbonise the grid. They will explore the challenges and opportunities to the uptake of this technology and how it can improve energy efficiency within the cold chain.