As a sector that both contributes to and is affected by climate change, agriculture has great potential to contribute to climate neutrality solutions with sustainable and resilient strategies. Participants at the conference agreed that the rewetting of peatlands and a reduction in livestock farming, combined with a more plant-based diet, would have a particularly strong impact on limiting global warming.
In his keynote speech, Hermann Lotze-Campen emphasised: "The loss of biodiversity can be stopped, nitrogen surpluses can be halved and the entire agricultural and food sector can become a carbon sink". However, the necessary political implementation of the transformation of the agricultural and food system can only succeed if farmers are involved and specifically rewarded for their environmental services. Many speakers and participants at the conference reconfirmed the importance of this aspect.
In addition to insights into the role of the agricultural sector in climate change, the three-day conference also brought to light concrete measures for shaping the transformation. The full programme and further information can be found here.
