The International Olive Council leader focuses on expanding cultivation and fighting climate change

“Climate change is the major challenge we face ahead,” Jaime Lillo López, executive director of the International Olive Council (IOC), told Olive Oil Times. “I have requested the support of the IOC’s members to start a permanent working line on this matter,” said Lillo, who served as deputy executive director for more than seven years and took the helm of the organization on January 1st. Established in 1959 with the International Olive Oil Agreement and under the auspices of the United Nations, the International Olive Council brings together the olive oil and table olive production sectors. Currently, 19 countries from four continents are IOC members. During a conversation with Olive Oil Times, Lillo underlined how several steps must be taken to cope with increasingly unpredictable weather conditions. “We need to facilitate the adaptation of production. The olive tree is a very resilient living organism,” Lillo said. “For example, olive trees are growing on the edge of the desert, ...