Signed article by Federal Minister Ilse Aigner: Agriculture and Climate Change – An Added Challenge to Global Food Security

On 16 January 2010, Agriculture Ministers from all around the world and decision-makers from industry and associations will meet in Berlin in order to discuss the subject of "Agriculture and Climate Change - New Concept Proposals from Policymakers and Industry" at the "Global Forum for Food and Agriculture". This year's Forum thus ties in thematically with the Summit of Agriculture Ministers last year, the World Food Conference in Rome and the Copenhagen Climate Summit. The 2010 Forum unites the two key issues of the 21st century, i.e. the global food situation and climate change.

Realising the right to food for everyone

Today, every seventh person suffers from hunger and poverty - one billion people do not have enough to eat. According to estimates by the UN, the global population will grow to over 9 billion people by 2050. Food production will have to increase by at least 70 percent by then so that we can make the right to food a reality for everyone. One of the United Nations’ Millennium Goals is to halve global hunger by 2015. However, our natural resources, such as soil and water, are finite. This poses enormous challenges for the agricultural and food industries.

Increasing agricultural production while bearing in mind the precepts of sustainability is the key to global food security and, more than that, it is a basic prerequisite for maintaining peace in the world.

At the same time, climate change, with the extreme fluctuations in weather conditions that are already becoming apparent, have an impact on agricultural production. We can also see how farmland is continuing to be lost to urbanisation and infrastructure measures, especially in countries with strong economic growth.

Yet the agricultural sector is also expected to make a pro-active contribution to protect the climate and in particular to reduce emissions. This includes curbing the methane and laughing-gas emissions in the agricultural sector and substantially reducing the conversion of forested land into farmland. Furthermore, agriculture is also required to protect biodiversity and thus make an active contribution towards preserving species diversity and protecting genetic resources.

Achieving food security, protecting the climate, conserving resources

You could almost say that agriculture must square the circle, i.e. it must considerably expand its production in order to secure the food supply whilst contributing to the protection of the climate, resources and biodiversity at the same time. How can we do this?

I believe that no State can find a way out of this dilemma on its own. Only if we make every effort at national and international level to increase production while at the same time conserving resources will we succeed in sustainably producing adequate supplies of foodstuffs for a growing world population. We are all called upon to play our part in this regard: politics and industry, producers and consumers, research and science, training establishments and advisory agencies.

The sustainability concept of the BMELV

By presenting its own sustainability concept one year ago already, Last year, the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection presented its own sustainability concept, making it the first ministry in the Federal Government to confront this task.

More investment in research and innovations for the agricultural sector is one of the keys to the solution, a key to more climate-efficient agricultural production. The BMELV is therefore joining the "Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases" that was launched by the New Zealand Government in cooperation with the USA. Research is crucial to adapting to climate change and curbing emissions because agriculture plays a double role: it contributes to climate change while also being affected by it..

Global Forum for Food and Agriculture

The "Global Forum for Food and Agriculture" represents the first step taken after Copenhagen, providing a platform for policy-makers to exchange views and ideas about the future of agriculture and its challenges in a concrete and constructive manner.

The political meeting will be supplemented by a high-level event hosted by the business community. The event will feature a number of expert forums and the International Business Panel on "Limited Resources – Managing a Turbulent Future“ where attending decision-makers will discuss in detail various aspects of new concept proposals for agriculture, the food industry and climate protection.

The joint conclusions of the attending Ministers of Agriculture are to be incorporated into the work of international bodies in the months to come.