a landmark $8.5 billion pledge by the U.K., U.S. and European Union before last year’s COP26 summit to support South Africa’s move away from fossil fuels. The deal has become a model for decarbonizing other nations including India, Indonesia and Vietnam. The hope is that agreements can be reached with those countries before COP27, the people said, and that details of the South Africa pact will be finalized by then. Much of the focus is on Indonesia, which will this year host the Group of 20’s meetings and have significant influence over COP27. Getting a deal done could earn rich countries some goodwill in Egypt after they failed again last year to meet a decade-old target to deliver $100 billion a year in climate finance for poor nations. Jess Shanlerman Blomnerg Green., london

 

Dear Christopher, The Environment and Society Programme is delighted to invite you to a panel discussion exploring 'What does sustainable agriculture mean?', taking place from 17:30 to 18:30 PM BST on Tuesday 24 May 2022. At this event, we will be launching a new research paper titled 'Sustainable agriculture and food systems: Comparing contrasting and contested versions', co-authored by Professor Tim Benton, Research Director for Emerging Risks and Director of the Environment and Society Programme and Dr Helen Harwatt, Senior Research Fellow in the Environment and Society Programme. The paper will be available in a digital format the same day. This discussion is taking place as a hybrid event. Please register below, indicating whether you will attend virtually, on Zoom, or in person at 10 St James' Square, London, SW1Y 4LE.

What does sustainable agriculture mean? TUESDAY 24 MAY 2022 | 17:30 to 18:30 BST Professor Tim Benton, Director, Environment and Society Programme, Chatham House Talia Smith, Co-Director of Knowledge Generation, Food & Land Use Coalition at SYSTEMIQ Luke Spajik, Plenitude Project Coordinator, ENOUGH Further speakers to be announced. There is growing and unprecedented recognition of the adverse effects of food systems on global warming, air and water pollution, biodiversity, soil, and managing the emergence and spread of infectious diseases. At the same time, concern is rising over the role of climate change itself in compromising food security, supply-chain resilience and food price spikes. Against this backdrop, the need for agriculture to become more ‘sustainable’ is clear. However, there is little consensus over what that means in practice. To address this, Chatham House is launching a new research paper comparing and contrasting the two most commonly articulated versions of ‘sustainable agriculture’. The first focuses on sparing land for nature and increasing the productivity of agricultural land while minimising environmental impacts. The second involves scaling up nature-friendly farming while emphasising demand-side changes to reduce the overall pressure on land. The panel will address: How can we understand the arguments in support of either version and the assumptions and ideologies which underpin them? What are the implications of promoting one version of agriculture over the other? How can policy transform agriculture and food systems? What should civil society support as ‘sustainable’ choices? Register

Event contact Ludivine Rebet LRebet@chathamhouse.org Programme Coordinator Environment and Society Programme With thanks to the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission (FFCC) for financially supporting this research paper and launch event.

Past Environment & Society Programme Events

Feminist solutions to the climate crisis This International Women's Day panel explored intersectional feminist approaches to solving the climate crisis. It considered what feminist approaches can bring to movement building, and highlighted examples of feminist and gender-responsive policies to address climate change, such as the Feminist Green New Deal. Watch recording

Nuclear, gas and green finance taxonomies in the EU and UK In collaboration with E3G, this event discussed EU, UK and international perspectives on defining a green taxonomy. How can we ensure taxonomies are robust and evidence-based, taking an objective, science-based approach to assessing sustainability? Watch recording

Loss and damage - where are we now and what happens next? Our first event on loss and damage outlined the key debates and discussed what progress has been made on advancing the loss and damage agenda within climate negotiations to date.  Watch recording

A deep dive into loss and damage solutions Our second event explored a deep dive into the progress and potential on loss and damage solutions, while also examining the hurdles that are still to overcome to make loss and damage support a reality.  Watch recording

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Oakes, Robert

Senior Researcher

PROFILE

UNU PUBLICATIONS

PROJECTS

• 

  INSTITUTE:

  UNU-EHS

  OFFICE:

  Environment and Migration: Interactions and Choices Section (EMIC)

  E-MAIL:

  oakes@ehs.unu.edu

  PHONE:

  +44-(0)-7846-980-728

  NATIONALITY:

  United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

  Research Interests

  • Agent Based Modelling
  • Climate Change
  • Environmentally Related Migration

  Education

  • PhD: Geography, Understanding and Modelling Hurricane Evacuation, University of Sussex
  • MA., Environment, Development and Policy, University of Sussex
  • BA., Modern History and Economics, University of Manchester

  Biographical Statement

  Dr. Robert Oakes is a Research Associate at UNU-EHS. He investigates population movements related to environmental risk, climate change and disasters. Specifically he researches the subjective, or personal understandings people have of risk, the impact of social networks and how these can translate into community level movements.

  He takes a multidisciplinary approach as his doctorate is in Geography but his research includes theories and methods from Economics, Complexity, Psychology, Sociology and Anthropoolgy. His doctorate from the University of Sussex used Q method and Agent Based Modelling to investigate evacuation flows from Galveston in the lead up to Hurricane Ike in 2008. He used Q method to show that a variety of factors can influence the decision to stay and weather the storm, thus demonstrating the need for a wider understanding of what is termed “rational” behavior. He also used an Agent Based Model to investigate the impact of social networks or peer pressure on community level evacuation, demonstrating the utility of this innovative method for studying climate related movements.

NEW COURSES

• 2015•01•06     HAMILTONWater Without Borders Joint Collaborative Graduate Programme (MA, MSc and PhD)
• 2018•10•12     BONNGeography of Environmental Risks and Human Security (international joint MSc programme)
• 2018•10•12     DRESDENIntegrated Management of Water, Soil and Waste (joint PhD programme)