NCBA CLUSA will represent U.S. co-op movement at Global Cooperative Conference in New Delhi

Home to one-quarter of the world's 1.2 billion cooperators, India is hosting the event for the first time in its 130-year history.

NCBA CLUSA president and CEO Doug O'Brien will represent the U.S. cooperative community at the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA)'s Global Cooperative Conference in New Delhi this November. Home to one-quarter of the world's 1.2 billion cooperators, India is hosting the event for the first time in its 130-year history.

The conference is the world's largest gathering of global cooperators who envision a peaceful and prosperous future through cooperatives. In addition to exploring the theme of how co-ops build prosperity for everyone, the conference will mark the official launch of the 2025 International Year of Cooperatives. A global celebration proclaimed by the United Nations, IYC2025 will elevate the critical role co-ops play in building the economy, strengthening democracy and creating a sustainable future.

"I am humbled to represent the U.S. cooperative community at this historic event where we will formally kick off the International Year of Cooperatives," O'Brien said in a post on X. "With the challenges we face as a global community, it is crucial that we increase the awareness of and advocacy for co-ops."

Joining O'Brien on the speaker lineup for the ICA Global Cooperative Conference are Ariel Guarco, president of the ICA; Jeroen Douglas, director-general of the ICA; Rose Marley, CEO of Co-operatives UK; and Dr. Udai Shankar Awasthi, managing director of IFFCO. The event will feature keynote presentations from a range of speakers, including Indian scholar, author and activist Vandana Shiva and UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Participants will also hear from science fiction writer, activist and blogger Cory Efram Doctorow, who was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2020.

Programming for the event is organized under four themes:

• Enabling policy and entrepreneurial ecosystems
• Reaffirming the cooperative identity
• Nurturing purposeful leadership
• Shaping a just, equal and resilient future

The conference is hosted by the Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative (IFFCO), along with 18 ICA members in India. NCBA CLUSA's ties to the co-op movement in India go back to 1953, when the association launched its international development work in response to a request from the Indian Cooperative Union.

IFFCO announces it will offset carbon emissions during the ICA Global Cooperative Conference by planting trees.

Through an office in New Delhi led by NCBA CLUSA Representative for India Dr. Allie Felder, we helped develop and strengthen fertilizer, oilseeds, dairy and other cooperative industries in the country, including IFFCO. Today, IFFCO is the biggest cooperative in the world in terms of GDP per capita, boasting 40,000 member co-ops and five plants across India that net an annual profit of more than $200 million. IFFCO offers its members insurance, telephone services, financial assistance and healthcare.

IFFCO has also paved the way for India's green revolution by promoting climate-smart fertilizers and sustainable farming practices. At the IYC2025 soft launch, representatives from IFFCO pledged that the ICA Global Cooperative Conference would be "carbon free." Organizers are currently calculating the event's carbon emissions, which will be offset by planting trees, they said.

Learn more about the ICA Global Cooperative Conference

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