Biden administration’s role in global climate talks ‘most consequential change’ from Trump: Sara Menker

Gro Intelligence CEO, Sara Menker, joins 'Influencers with Andy Serwer' to weigh in on President Biden's climate policies.

Video transcript

ANDY SERWER: I want to ask about politics next and how that factors in. We have a changing of the guard here in the United States. I want to ask you the implications about that. But the bigger trend is towards protectionism around the world. Joe Biden notwithstanding, obviously, you can go around the globe and just point to nationalistic leaders.

So, A, US, and B, global. What's the environment?

SARA MENKER: Yeah. I mean, I think with the US, with the changing of the guard obviously a very big change is around climate, right? Reentering the Paris Agreement leading up to COP26, which is happening in November and December of this year. And, you know, the role sort of that the US is going to play and the prominent stage the US is going to take in sort of the climate change conversations, which are economic discussions and are conversations about trade-offs that every country is going to have to make to sort of move to a world of net zero.

So I would say that that probably is the most consequential change as it sort of relates to the world that I live in, which is climate and agriculture. On the food side and just in general, I would say that, again, I always remind people food security is a national security. Like, it really is. And we always forget it until there's something that reminds us, right?

And last time it was the Arab Spring. And like watching, sort of, countries like Russia and Ukraine clamp down on exports. I mean, think about it. You basically have a currency crisis. The way you solve our currency crisis is by getting more foreign exchange reserves.

You are sacrificing foreign exchange reserves by curbing exports because it is still more important to make sure your people are fed at the right price than it is to get more foreign exchange reserves in the country. And that's literally the world we're living in today in many, many parts of the world. And so it's-- I think there's a lot we're going to be on the lookout for this year.