Biotechnology and Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities

Programme

13:45 Registration

14:00 Welcome (Thomas Cottier, Managing Director of the World Trade Institute)

14:15 Philipp Aerni, World Trade Institute, University of Bern: “Results of the global stakeholder survey on Biotechnology and Climate Change”

14:45 David Nevill, Head of Cereals Seeds R&D, Syngenta: “Potential of Biotechnology and Climate Change Adaptation Strategies. Biotechnology and Climate Change”

15:15 Coffee Break

15:30 Panel Discussion on Biotechnology and Climate Change (Chair: Philipp Aerni)

• Vally Koubi (Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern)
• Jean‐Paul Jeanrenaud (WWF Head of Business and Industry Relations)
• Dominique Kohli (Vice‐Director, Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture)
• David Nevill (Head of Cereals Seeds R&D, Syngenta)
• Markus Giger (Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern)

16:55 Concluding Remarks (Thomas Cottier)

Background

The problem of man-made global climate change is strongly related to land-use practices and the global dependence on fossil fuels. Biotechnology is a platform technology that may help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, improve adaptation to climate change, offer new sources of renewable energy and transform the current petrochemical industry into a less energy intensive biological industry. Yet, this potential is hardly ever discussed in the public debate on climate change because biotechnology is currently not associated with the term ‘cleantech’ that is used to describe climate-friendly technology.