Planet Security Conference opening speech: Minister Bert Koenders refers to WUR and CSA

From 5-6 December, the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael organized the Planetary Security Conference in The Hague’s Peace Palace. The Conference is part of the Planetary Security Initiative (PSI) launched in 2015 by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Operated by a consortium of leading think tanks working on this topic, the goal of the PSI is to strengthen the knowledge-policy interface by consolidating the community of practice on planetary security. Emphasis was on the role of climate change and its negative effects on water and food security which can decrease resilience, increase fragility and thus be drivers of conflicts.

Referring to WUR, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bert Koenders said: “Wageningen University & Research, our leading agricultural university, has picked up the issue of climate-smart agriculture. The results so far are promising: it is possible to produce a kilo of tomatoes with 4 liters of water, while presently this requires 60 liters. Wouldn’t it make sense to focus this on regions where water scarcity is impacting heavily on agricultural production, leading to destabilizing processes we all know too well? We know where this scarcity will occur, and we increasingly have the tools to assist local farmers in adapting to this new reality.”