Climate change: An insurmountable obstacle to achieving zero hunger?

Climate change is one of the most important drivers of increasing hunger. Food production is also one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Are there any contradictions in eradicting hunger and safeguarding our common home?
The Zero Hunger Conference will highlight research on the links between climate change and food security. We will discuss how Norwegian enterprises, academia and civil society can work together to create paths towards increased food production, compatible with the demands imposed by the goal of climate change mitigation.

Programme

09.00 – 09.05: Welcome by Secretary General of Caritas Norway, Martha Rubiano Skretteberg.

09.05 – 09.20: Keynote speech by Minister of International Development, Dag-Inge Ulstein.  Ulstein (KrF) will present the Norwegian government’s work on food security and explain how the government will work to ensure climate adaptation for those who are most affected by climate change.

09.20 – 09.30: How can innovation help combat world hunger? by Anne Poulsen, director of  the World Food Program’s (WFP) Nordic Office. Poulsen will focus on how WFP works to scale up high potential solutions to combat hunger, by providing entrepreneurs, companies and NGOs access to mentorship, financial support and WFP operations.

09.30 – 09.40: Hunger and Climate Change, by Ruth Haug, professor in development studies at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). In her presentation Ruth will focus on the political, economical and social aspect of hunger and the lack of political will to achieve SDG2. Based on her extensive research, she will connect the missing gaps and relate it to the challenges caused by climate change.

09.40 – 09.50: A crisis perspective on climate change and finance, by Ingrid Rostad, senior advisor at the Norwegian Forum for Development and Environment. In her presentation Ingrid will focus on the urgency of addressing both the crisis of climate change and the crisis of adequate climate finance. Ingrid was recently in New York during the High Level Meeting at the UN and will give us her view from “the belly of the beast».

09.50 – 10.00: A Perspective from the Global South, by Godfrey Onentho, Research and Policy Advocacy Coordinator at Caritas Uganda. Godfrey will share his views from the ground and explain how Caritas works in Uganda on climate adaptation and  empowerment of small holder farmers. He will also talk about climate change as an obstacle to meaningful agricultural production, food security and economic and human development in poor countries.

10.00 – 10.30: Panel debate: What can Norway do to sustainably increase food production?

Lunch break

11.00 – 13.00:  Roundtable discussions

Roundtable 1: Climate change adaption and innovation: How can we use new technology and climate-smart agriculture to reach the goal of zero hunger within 2030? Moderated by Aron Halfen (Caritas Norway) With interventions by Anne Beathe Kristiansen Tvinnereim (Centre Party), Anne Poulsen (WFP), Mehraz Rafat (The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation/Norad) and Godfrey Onentho (Caritas Uganda).

Roundtable 2: Upscaling best practice projects: How can climate-smart agricultural projects be scaled up across the Global South? Moderated by Knut Andreas Lid (Caritas Norway). With interventions by Arne Næss-Holm (Norwegian Church Aid), Marianne Jønsberg (Norfund) and Øystein Botillen (Yara).