Agriculture must feature in Copenhagen

Next month world leaders will meet in Copenhagen for the UN Climate Change Conference.

In a joint statement, an array of top experts, including World Food Prize laureates, former heads of development agencies, former Ministers of Agriculture and leading researchers, said agriculture must be high up the Copenhagen agenda.

Their statement read: “No credible or effective agreement to address the challenges of climate change can ignore agriculture and the need for crop adaptation to ensure the world’s future food supplies.

“We urge countries at the Copenhagen Conference to give due attention to crop diversity conservation and use as an essential element of the commitments they will make for climate change adaptation.

“The magnitude of change now being forecast, even in relatively optimistic scenarios, is historically unprecedented, and our agricultural systems are still largely unprepared to face it.

“For agriculture to adapt, crops must adapt. Concerted adaptation efforts will be required crop-by-crop, country-by-country, and internationally,” the signatories warned.

The Global Crop Diversity Trust, who supported the 60 signatories, called on nations to invest $250 million (£150m) into seed banks to preserve all varieties of food crops, including those which may best survive future climate changes.

The trust is the main supporter of a seed vault in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, which is a major global back-up for food crops.

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