Great interest in climate conference in Witzenhausen

While the international community debated the course to be taken in climate policy in Madrid and the agricultural summit took place in the Chancellor's Office in Berlin, the Witzenhausen conference brought both topics together. Climate change and the future of agriculture are shaping the current discourse. That's why, from December 3-7, 2019, scientists and practitioners discussed the current state of research as well as possible solutions under the title "Climate.Change.Agriculture" in Witzenhausen.

The interest in the Witzenhausen conference was great: already three weeks before the start of the conference, the event was sold out with 300 participants. Eight students, together with Prof. Dr. Jürgen Heß, Department of Organic Agriculture and Plant Production, and study coordinator Holger Mittelstraß, put together a remarkable program with top-class speakers.

The opening lecture was given by Prof. Dr. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, Honorary President and co-founder of the Club of Rome. He made clear not only the seriousness of the situation, but also the enormous interactions between agriculture and climate change.

The first day focused on the social dimension of climate change. Magdalena Trapp (NABU) analyzed the lack of incentives for climate protection in European agricultural policy and showed that instead, climate-damaging actions are promoted by the EU with billions. Instead of direct payments, climate-friendly farming methods should be promoted and rewarded.

Dr. Guido Nischwitz from the University of Bremen then presented his study on interconnections between politics and the German Farmers' Association. Attempts to implement climate-friendly regulatory measures (such as the Fertilizer Ordinance) also failed because of these interrelationships. However, the Farmers' Association does not necessarily represent the interests of farmers either, Nischwitz emphasized. Many of the chairmen also hold high-ranking positions in government agencies, companies or other institutions, and it is not always clear who they are representing.

The second day was themed "Reducing Climate Gases." Scientists and practitioners presented research results and discussed where CO2 emission sources from agriculture were located and how they could be reduced. Veterinarian and author Dr. Anita Idel explained why cows do not have to be climate killers, but can even contribute to climate protection if managed correctly. Workshops by Prof. Dr. Rainer Roehe of Scotland Rural Collage presented a very different approach: He is researching the breeding of cattle that emit drastically less methane. This would be a tremendous breakthrough.

The third day dealt with agriculture's possible adaptation strategies to the inevitable consequences of global warming. During the past heatwave summer, farmers felt that new concepts and approaches needed to be developed. Plant breeders Prof. Dr. Joachim Schiemann and Dr. Carl Vollenweider discussed the future of breeding in response to climate change. Schiemann emphasized that genetic engineering could quickly make resistant high-yielding varieties available. This would enable agriculture to respond quickly to climate change. Vollenweider, on the other hand, took the position that genetic monotony due to genetic engineering methods in fields posed a major risk, whereas genetic diversity in classical population breeding, on the other hand, strengthened the resilience of plants to climate change.

This afternoon was also accompanied by workshops, with organic farmer Jan Wittenberg, for example, offering the workshop "Climate change as an opportunity for new crops".

In a moderated debate, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Heß and Prof. Dr. Dieter Trautz discussed the future of organic agriculture and how it would have to change in order to be climate-friendly in the future. Trautz advocated increasing yields to make more efficient use of scarce resources in the spirit of sustainable intensification. Heß took the position that organic farming must be developed further, while maintaining its principles quasi as a baseline, in order to bring its diverse services for the environment and society further into the field. In doing so, yields and environmental services should not be played off against each other.

For more information and printable photos visit  
https://www.konferenz-witzenhausen.de/id-27-konferenz

Contact:

Team Witzenhäuser Konferenz 2019
University of Kassel
Steinstr. 19
37213 Witzenhausen

Annabelle Buhrow (Press Officer)
Tel: 0157 878 580 87
Mail: konferenz[at]wiz.uni-kassel[dot]de

www.konferenz-witzenhausen.de