The seventh workshop of the DEEDS stakeholder engagement series on “Pathways for decarbonised agriculture and food systems” will take place on 18 November 2019 in Montpellier.
The workshop on agriculture and food systems, will focus on research and innovations for boosting a decarbonised agriculture sector which enables sustainable food production and promotes healthy soilsin Europe. It will explore which policies and innovations are needed to achieve sustainable agriculture, as well as discuss the priorities and recommendations brought forward in the Final Report of the High-Level Panel for European Decarbonisation Pathways. In addition, it will delve into new farming models, changing dietary behaviour to promoting sustainable food systems, and the implications for forestry and land use. A working session will allow discussions on the limitations to ramp up low-carbon agricultural models that facilitate a circular bioeconomy and to scale up the deployment of innovative solutions. This will be done in collaboration with stakeholders from policy making, academia, businesses and civil society.
Decarbonising European agriculture is challenging as it must be achieved in a context of rapidly growing global food demand (between +50 % and +100 %, according to the latest foresight studies), whilst also coping with the impacts of climate change.
In this context, the importance of European agriculture and forests in decarbonization strategies is threefold. It is first a matter of reducing greenhouse gas emissions emitted through the agricultural production process. In Europe, this concerns mainly methane from livestock production and nitrous oxide from fertilizer use. It is also a matter of Europe’s indirect impact on global agricultural emissions. While Europe accounts for around 12% of global emissions resulting from the agricultural production process, this contribution is probably larger if correcting for domestic consumption of agricultural products and the associated flows of imports and exports. Finally, European agriculture must promote the sequestration of carbon in soils and vegetation to meet the target of negative emissions. This refers to the geological or biological sequestration of carbon, associated to the decarbonization pathways limiting the global warming to 1.5°C or 2°C.
Join us in Montpellier on 18 November 2019 to learn more about the challenges in this area and give your views to influence the EU innovation policy of the coming years!
To register, please fill out the Registration Form.
Costs: This event is free of cost. Workshop participants may benefit from support to cover Transport and Subsistence costs. The limited budget will be allocated on a First Come-First Serve basis. For information, please contact InnoEnergy (deeds@kic-innoenergy.com).
Venue: Cirad (Bâtiment 4), 389 Avenue Agropolis, 34980 Montferrier-sur-Lez (Montpellier), France
For more information about the workshop write to Iker Urdangarin.