Hosted by the Centre for Environmental Policy and the Brevan Howard Centre for Financial Analysis
22nd October, 5pm Clore LT (TBC)
Professor Sir Gordon Conway will be participating in a One by one discussion (moderator: Enrico Biffis, Associate Professor, IC Business School)
Globally, 800 million people experience hunger whilst two billion are considered to be poorly nourished. In order to meet the needs of an increasing global population rising to 10 billion by 2050 and changes in diets in emerging economies, food production will have to be doubled. Developed country dinner tables are also affected because supermarkets source an increasing number of staple products from the developing world.
These pressures on the food system will also increase its vulnerability to shocks. In particular, future climate projections indicate that a very serious consequence of post-industrial anthropogenic global warming is the likelihood of the greater frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. This will threaten basic food and nutrition security targets in regions where crop productivity is already low and hunger is persistent. It will also threaten complex food supply chains throughout the world.
The increase in probability of broad-spread crop failures requires new sources and types of financial and insurance products. In order to ensure the sustainability of product sourcing the increased costs caused by extreme weather to the food-and-fiber industry, farmers, and society, need to be minimized and more smoothly managed. This conference’s presentations will focus upon the challenges posed to the financial sector in dealing with known unknowns with short and long term capital. In the face of non-stationary risk drivers, the use of innovative risk metrics for optimum risk sharing, securities and financial instrument design will be presented in the event’s essential conversation among those present. These mechanisms are vital because private sector capital drives investment in agriculture and therefore food flows around the world.
For more information, please follow the link to the Imperial College event listing.
