Interview with the ex-boss of Nestlé, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe
Interview: Christian Dorer, photos: Niels Ackermann
This week, a conference with around 900 scientists, diplomats and other participants took place in Geneva. She organized the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA), a new foundation that keeps current scientific developments on the radar. The Federal Council was able to win over long-time Nestlé driver Peter Brabeck (76) as President of the Foundation. SonntagsBlick met him in Geneva.
Mr Brabeck, why are you bringing scientists and diplomats together in Geneva?
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe: Science advances faster than politics can follow. This is so busy with the all about that she finds too little time to think about long-term developments. And so scientific progress cannot be applied because the political framework is lacking. Breakthroughs starve in the drawer.
How are you going to change that?
We have obtained the opinions of around 4,000 scientists worldwide. You have made forecasts in all relevant research areas about which technological breakthroughs can be expected in five, ten and 25 years. We are confronting politics and diplomacy with this.
What should politics do then?
Ask yourself: What does it take for scientific breakthroughs to benefit the general public and not remain in the hands of a few large corporations or governments? But also: Are there areas in which humankind should forego further research for ethical reasons?
About the person: Peter Brabeck-Letmathe
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe was born in Villach in 1944. After studying economics, the Austrian started at the Swiss food company Nestlé in 1968 – and stayed for almost 50 years! After working around the world, he was CEO from 1997 to 2005, then Chairman of the Board of Directors until 2017. Today he presides over the GESDA Foundation, behind which, among others, the Confederation of the Canton of Geneva stands and is supposed to recognize the scientific development in the short term. Brabeck is married with three grown children and lives in Verbier VS.
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe was born in Villach in 1944. After studying economics, the Austrian started at the Swiss food company Nestlé in 1968 – and stayed for almost 50 years! After working around the world, he was CEO from 1997 to 2005, then Chairman of the Board of Directors until 2017. Today he presides over the GESDA Foundation, behind which, among others, the Confederation of the Canton of Geneva stands and is supposed to recognize the scientific development in the short term. Brabeck is married with three grown children and lives in Verbier VS.
Please make an example.
The Internet was invented in Geneva and is now the basis of business for the three largest corporations in the world. Only today are politicians realizing that they have to regulate the whole thing so that nobody becomes so dominant. With GESDA you could have seen it coming.
Aren’t the greatest achievements unpredictable? Nobody expected that the smartphone would change the world.
No development comes in one fell swoop. Even if we say that the corona vaccinations were developed within twelve months, that is completely wrong. The mRNA technology has been known for 30 years. But only very few companies believed in it and invested in research for years. And only then did politicians come up with the idea that mRNA could be a solution.
What will be the next big change for humanity?
We have more than 200 developments on our radar. Personally, I believe that the major breakthroughs will come from quantum computers. The optimists believe that they will be applicable in five years. Ten years are probably realistic.
This means?
That the capacity of the best computers will increase a thousandfold today. That enables real artificial intelligence. The machine will then think like humans. It is no longer dependent on data that humans give it, but learns by itself.
Sounds scary.
It’s very scary! That is why regulations are needed. Development is currently in the hands of three companies and four countries worldwide. The rest of it kind of participates, but the heart of the technology is focused. In the future we should not allow any new Facebooks and Googles that have so much power to be politically dangerous.
Do you expect another revolution besides artificial intelligence?
The fusion of bio and information technology. I can already have artificial knees that are stronger than my own. There are people who die faster with artificial legs and are therefore not allowed to take part in the Olympic Games. An artificial heart is probably less vulnerable than my own. This leads to fundamental questions: How long is a person still a person? When does it become an avatar and when does it become a robot?
Yes, you want to?
A robot was present at a conference in Hong Kong. Not only did he give a lecture, he also answered simple questions. This robot had a citizenship and a passport. There are also avatars already: for example, people who have an antenna inserted so that they can see at night. They are already something between humans and robots.
You have been nutrition at Nestlé all your life. What can we expect there?
It will be based more on plant and animal calories. Not for ethical, but for environmental reasons: The water consumption for an animal calorie is ten times higher than for a vegetable one. That is why we cannot die in the future to feed ten billion people as we do today. We don’t have enough water, not enough soil for that. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to eat meat at all, but definitely not like the Texans a 700-gram steak every day.
Back to the Sunday roast too?
Yes, my generation grew up on meat once a week, maybe twice, and it was something special. Incidentally, I am deeply convinced that food always remains an emotional part of people and is never replaced by a tablet, even IF this is possible.
What can be expected in genetic engineering?
There are researchers who have created so-called chimeric embryos – half human, half monkey. The fetus has now been killed. Or the cloning of children: this can also lead to an expansion of human capacities. International rules are needed here as to what is allowed and what is not. Such research can be positive, but it can also be devastating.
There will always be villains who don’t care about rules.
With framework conditions, illegal projects will remain isolated cases. For a scientist, the publication of his research in professional journals is the most important motivation driver. If we get them not to publish on certain topics, the incentive for ethically questionable research is already much lower.
Which would be the right body to set such rules?
That doesn’t exist yet. A kind of Cern could be set up for a quantum computer, which WILL be used by many foreign locations. This would limit the power of a few companies and democratize their use. A science council proposing ethical principles would also be an option. One could locate it in Geneva, for example.
How important is Geneva to the world today?
Still very important with the second largest UN center after New York. But Geneva also has to attract new institutions – or the old ones have to reinvent themselves. With GESDA, the governments in Bern and Geneva want to ensure that Geneva remains attractive. If we propose solutions, then Geneva and Switzerland have the first prerogative to implement these solutions – provided they are interested in them. If not, then we have the right to go elsewhere.
Has science gained importance through Corona?
Yes, at the same time science has found itself in a zone of conflict for public opinion. Because even in science there are only high probabilities and no truths. When politicians control themselves in science, then everyone takes what suits them.
How did you experience the Corona period?
Very virulent from the start: I was in the intensive care unit for twelve days. That was one of my toughest fights. The disease was like a mangy dog that sat on my neck and wouldn’t let go. It was an uphill battle day and night.
How did that shape your attitude towards the pandemic?
I was surprised how unprepared we were as a society. We already predicted a pandemic at the WEF in 2015. While I was in the hospital, the politicians on French television were still laughing. And when they finally responded, they completely exaggerated.
Did you find the corona measures excessive?
Mankind has never caused so much economic damage in its history as it did in these months, probably not even during World War II. In Switzerland we didn’t really notice: The number of people affected by extreme poverty has increased from 720 million to one billion people. Child mortality due to hunger has increased sixfold: for every Covid death, an additional 1.6 children died from the negative effects! Then there are the numerous young people who did not go to school for two years. These consequences would have been avoidable IF WE had better anticipated the pandemic and politicians had been better prepared. GESDA should help prevent this from happening in the future.