Towards a regulatory framework for climate smart agriculture

Between now and 2050, there will be a sharp increase in the demand of agricultural products due to an increase of the world’s population, the rise in global calorie intake due to greater affluence, and the production of bio-fuels. 

The increase in agricultural production will be accompanied by an increase in the emission of greenhouse gasses. Agriculture is responsible for 30% of global greenhouse emissions. Agriculture is not only a major cause of climate change but in many regions of the world, it is also seriously impacted by climate change. In many regions, produce will be negatively affected because of shifts in water availability, temperature shifts, and changes in the occurrence of pests.

Policy documents, mostly by international institutions, have endorsed climate smart agriculture (CSA) as a means to achieve production growth, while at the same reducing the emission of greenhouse gasses and adapting the agricultural sector to the changing climate. However, it is as yet unclear through what legal mechanism CSA can be achieved.

Symposium program 15 December 2017

Presentations:

• Jonathan Verschuuren, professor of climate law, Tilburg University
• Valeria Forlin, European Commission, DG Clima
• Monique Remmers, Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
• Kees van Zelderen, LTO Nederland, Dutch Federation of Agriculture and Horticulture
• Peter Kuikman/Jan Peter Lesschen, Wageningen Environmental Research
• John Dagevos, TELOS Regional Centre for Sustainable Development, Netherlands

Call for papers

Call for papers special issue 'Sustainability' on "Governance for Climate smart Agriculture", edited by Jonathan Verschuuren.

You can apply for a waiver of the open access fee

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 655565.

Jonathan Verschuuren, professor of International and European Environmental Law at Tilburg Law School, was granted a Marie Sklodowska Curie global fellowship to develop proposals for a regulatory framework to stimulate climate smart agriculture among Europe's farmers. The projects runs from 1 January 2016 until 31 December 2017.

The grant covers research at the University of Sydney’s Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law (2016), and at the Tilburg Sustainability Center.