Prof. Adil Najam Speaks at Sustainable Agriculture Conference in Brussels

Prof. Adil Najam, the Director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future and Professor of International Relations, Geography and Environment at Boston University, was one of the plenary keynote speakers at the Third International Conference on Sustainable Development on “The Art of Farming,” in Brussels, Belgium, on May 11, 2010.

Prof. Najam spoke to an audience of over 250 leaders from industry and civil society in the food and agriculture sector. These included representatives of some of the world’s largest corporations and civil society organizations working in this area.

Prof. Najam’s keynote focussed on the role of science in sustainable agriculture, and particularly on the challenges posed by global climate change. Prof. Najam argued that the focus of climate policy, including in the agricultural issue, has been on climate mitigation but now needs to also include an adaptation focus. He introduced the idea that a new “Adaptation Economy” is in the making and agriculture (along with infrastructure) is going to be at the center of this adaptation economy. He argued that the need is to look beyond just “carbon management” and also into the development aspects of global climate change, particularly in adaptation to climate change.

Recent Pardee Center publications related to agriculture have included Pardee Center Issues in Briefs on Obesity and Malnutrition in Africa, Climate Change and Agriculture in Africa, Global Hunger, and Governance and the Food Crisis.