While climate risk has dominated sustainability discourse over the past decade, Isabelle Decitre, founder and CEO of ID Capital, pointed out that environmental toxicity now poses an equally significant threat with considerably lower awareness.
“The level of environmental toxicity has become as dangerous as climate change. I’m not saying this lightly. The level of awareness on climate change is very high amongst educated people, but the level of awareness around environmental toxicity is not as high, far from being as high, as people don’t have a sense of how important and prevalent it is,” she told AgTechNavigator.
She pointed to how our world was “saturated with microplastics, pesticide residues, PFAS, heavy metals”, noting that many of these compounds act as endocrine disruptors.
“They don’t just damage the sea turtles and the mangroves. They directly alter our biology.”
Decitre stressed that with fertility rates dropping sharply, the challenge is no longer just producing more food.
The challenge lies in creating systems that protect human health, reduce exposure to environmental toxins, support fertility, and help people live longer in good health.
“The world has changed faster than food systems alone can keep up. Human health is the limiting factor when you look at chronic disease, metabolic disorders, infertility or immune problems. All of this is exploding globally, even where food supply is abundant,” she said.
With people living longer, the focus is shifting to longevity and well ageing.
“Longevity and ageing are becoming economic and political forces. Asia is ageing faster than any other region, and the cost of people living longer in poor health has not been addressed by policies that can support it economically – it’s becoming unsustainable,” said Decitre.
A new fit for the future
To reflect the change, ID Capital’s Future Food Asia event has been rebranded to become Future Fit Asia (FFA).
Taking place May 12 to 13, the 10th anniversary conference will focus on the links between food, human health, environmental integrity and long-term resilience.
“Food, climate, and health are part of one system, not three. That’s not new, but it’s really where Future Fit Asia begins. This is the next phase. It’s not just about feeding the future; it’s about designing systems that allow people and the planet to thrive and remain functional, given these three challenges,” said Decrite.
She emphasised that the new FFA was not a departure from food and agriculture, but a reframing of food systems.
“Food remains central, but food as the biological interface between humans and the environment… Future Food Asia was about building the ecosystem, but I see Future Fit Asia as defining what the ecosystem must now deliver, given the very important changes. It’s not a departure from food and ag, it’s another way to look at the food systems.”
Decrite said that toxicity was increasingly being viewed as intersecting climate risk, healthcare costs, and national resilience.
Future Fit Asia has partnered with the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment to spotlight the issue in Asia Pacific through an award themed around toxicity solutions and a forthcoming regional report.
The partnership aims to raise awareness of its significance across the region’s innovation and investment community.
“The Grantham Foundation wants to provide catalytic capital for neglected problems that are a time bomb,” she said.
Investment shifts
Alongside this, the investment landscape is also shifting, Decrite has observed.
“Asia’s most active capital today is concentrated in areas where multiple forces overlap – climate risk, healthcare costs, ageing populations, food security, and national resilience. It’s not just in traditional agrifood tech. This is true across the board, whether you talk to sovereign wealth funds, family offices, corporate venture arms, or growth-stage investors… Everything they are looking at is directly tied to economic productivity, healthcare spending, and long-term stability… They are focused on the intersection of many structural forces.
“The same applies to corporates. You might think many are pulling back from sustainability – I’m not saying they aren’t cutting some budgets – but in reality, corporates are shifting towards innovation that drives growth, resilience, and competitiveness. Many companies no longer look at food in isolation but consider it alongside adjacent domains such as healthcare, chemicals, and others.”
Decrite believes this was an urgent but opportunity-rich moment.
“Nothing is simple, but as always, when you want to solve a problem, you first need to mobilise people to realise that it is a problem.”
