b'The GREAT FOGUNKNOWNof theA MASTER MEDIATOR WALKS SEED WORLD EUROPE THROUGH HOW THE SEED SECTOR MIGHT REACH MIDDLE GROUND WITH NGOS.BY: MARCEL BRUINSF or decades, the seed sector has struggled with non-govern-mental organization (NGO) pushback on various topics. From GMOs to crop protection products, and from patents to new genomic techniques and more, NGO political advocacy groups continue to disrupt innovation, hamper regulatory reform and incite significant frustration in the seed sector. At Seed World Europe, we checked in with Scott Poynton, Founder and CIO of business change consultancy adifferentway, who has earned his spurs in resolving conflicts between seemingly incompatible camps. We asked for his advice on how the seed sector might best handle varied and reoccurring conflicts with NGOs. We also asked for his perspective on a very different sort of conflict: the recent farmer pro-tests in many European countries, where farmers are pushing back on several of the proposed EU regulations. He shares his advice on how very divergent sides can work towards resolution on these and other conflicts.SEED WORLD EUROPE (SWE): SCOTT, CAN YOU SHARE IN A NUTSHELL A BIT ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND AND RECENT WORK? SCOTT POYNTON (SP): Im an Australian forester who has worked my life to protect forests and human rights. I founded the Tropical Forest Trust (TFT) in 1999 and through that work pio-neered responsible sourcing for companies. Recently, having left TFT in 2019, Ive started the Pond Foundation to support compa- Scott Poynton, Founder and CIO of the Pond Foundation and businessnies to take strong, credible climate action, build regenerative supplychange consultancy adifferentway.chains, and verify their environmental, social and climate related claims. Ive also set up an online coaching community called adif-ferentway to support people who are working to make the worldcampaigns against Nestl, Asia Pulp and Paper and Golden Agri a better place. Resources, and Climate Advisors campaign against Wilmar. All of these cases resulted in major, unprecedented breakthroughs that SWE: OVER THE PAST DECADES YOU HAVE MEDIATEDhave transformed entire industries. BETWEEN VARIOUS STAKEHOLDERS WHO WERE OFTEN IN HEATED DEBATES. CAN YOU SHARE A BIT ABOUT THAT, ANDSWE: HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT IT?HOW YOU WENT ABOUT RESOLVING THE PROBLEMS? SP: Its a difficult question to answer, but I think the essence of my SP: Yes, thats been a major cornerstone of my career. I didnt setapproach was to help protagonists get out of their heads and instead out to be a mediator but found myself in that position many times. Imake decisions based on their fundamental human values. None of helped the garden furniture sector move away from illegal logging,the companies wanted to be hurting people or other species, yet that deforestation, and human rights abuses by speaking with NGOswas what was happening as a result of the way they were running and implementing programs in the field. In that founding case,their businesses. When they got attacked by the NGOs, they nat-I wasnt just the mediator, I went to manage the worlds largesturally reacted with defence, striving to debunk the attacks against wooden garden furniture companys operations in Vietnam to helpthem. But what if there was truth to the [NGOs] attacks? While them turn their operations around. I supported CIB, the Congothey were stuck in their heads trying to think of clever responses, Basins largest forest industry, to speak with Greenpeace and findthey werent building an understanding that they needed to change. their way to being the first company to achieve Forest StewardshipUltimately, my job, achieved mostly by sitting and listening, was to Council (FSC) certification in the Congo Basin. Then, speakinghelp them find a path out of their head and more into their gut so to various NGOs concerned about teak plantation management inthat they could make decisions based on their values. If you dont Indonesia, I supported the TFTs work to build benefit-sharingwant to be linked to deforestation, change your practices to ensure programs between the state-owned Teak corporation and local com- youre not. Dont worry about whether someone says nasty things munities that had been in conflict [since] before independence inabout you, just do what you know is right. My job was to help them 1965. That work resulted in 4,000 semi-automatic weapons beingget to that place themselves, not to push them to it. I was the calm locked away and [the achievement that] no community member hasperson in the room that kept them focused on what was needed been shot or killed because of their involvement in illegal loggingrather than the pain they felt at the accusations broadcast around since 2009. Then there were the more famous cases of Greenpeacesthe world about them and their companies.34ISEED WORLD EUROPEISEEDWORLD.COM/EUROPE'