Thursday 4 February 2010

Copenhagen and Beyond: Three Perspectives on Agriculture and Climate Change

Jan 19, 2010.  Washington DC. IFPRI Policy Seminar, "Copenhagen and Beyond: Three Perspectives on Agriculture and Climate Change," held Jan 19, 2010.

The climate change negotiations in Copenhagen:
A. failed miserably,
B. were rescued at the last minute, or
C. resulted in a promising set of new initiatives that will ultimately lead to a binding international treaty.

William Hohenstein (USDA), David Waskow (Oxfam), and Gerald Nelson (IFPRI) provided perspectives on which of these three outcomes ultimately prevailed, how to remove the brackets in the negotiating text, and what the future might hold for policies and programs for agricultural climate change adaptation and mitigation.

William Hohenstein serves as the Director of the Climate Change Program Office (CCPO) at the USDA. The CCPO serves as a focal point for support to the Secretary of Agriculture on the causes and consequences of climate change, as well as for strategies for addressing climate change.




David Waskow is the Climate Change Program Director in the Washington office of Oxfam America. He was previously the international program director at Friends of the Earth - US.




Gerald Nelson is a Senior Research Fellow in IFPRI’s Environment and Production Technology Division.





Question and Answer Session at the IFPRI Policy Seminar, "Copenhagen and Beyond: Three Perspectives on Agriculture and Climate Change,"