A new year, a new frontier

By Thomas Hafner, Founder of Mootral

Back in 2016, a scientific project we had been working on for some time led to a bold dream - to transform animal agriculture into a climate solution. I understood from the start that, to create a solution that was good for the planet, people and animals, we needed to not only get the science right, but rally the industry to embrace a new idea, and most importantly - find a way to make going green a commercially sound choice for the farmers.

Eight years later, the beef and dairy industries are waking up to the opportunity to decarbonise their supply chains, finally showing definitive willingness to adopt methane reducers. Importantly, governments around the world are embracing the idea that mitigating methane from agriculture is as important as tackling emissions from fossil fuels. The farmers, we know, are standing ready to lead the transformation if financially enabled.

For me, this crossroads marks a perfect opportunity to calibrate my own priorities as Mootral’s founder. I have made the decision to hand over the CEO responsibilities to my long-term colleague and co-founder Isabelle Botticelli, who is stepping in as Mootral’s interim CEO effective immediately. Isabelle’s deep experience in growing partnership and supply chain networks, and expertise in embedding innovation across the organisation means she steps into the new role equipped to drive our commercialisation efforts and achieve effective growth. Her experience as Mootral’s Chief Operating Officer ensures she can start to enable the team immediately, having full understanding of our capabilities and opportunities ahead.

With Isabelle in the CEO role, I am now able to focus on some core functional competencies and an endeavour critical not only to Mootral’s success, but the viability of our industry as a whole - advocating for clear and robust standards when it comes to the development of methane reduction solutions and measurement of their effectiveness. Pushing for an accelerated engagement from the food value chain and governments will be part and parcel of this effort, too.

We recently launched Enterix Advanced as a sign of our commitment to delivering solutions that can result in effective methane reductions in any cow in any setting. Climate change is a global threat that requires globally applicable solutions. The issue is both urgent and monumental, demanding a clear framework for safe and scalable solutions development. Mootral can’t do it alone, and I’m looking forward to working with the industry, regulators and policy makers to ensure that the transition is swift and successful.

There is so much still to be done, and our team is more committed than ever to deliver on the journey ahead.