Berlin, 10–11/2/2010. The BMBF specialist forum ‘Plant research, climate, sustainability’, hosted by the German plant genome programme, GABI, and the BioEconomyCouncil, has highlighted the key role of thoroughgoing plant research as a means of adapting to climate change. The growing demand for food, raw materials and renewable energy is presenting plant research and its related disciplines with new challenges, the forum said.

To enable a systematic response to population growth and the increasing demand for raw materials while developing a ‘Green Economy’, a new dimension of plant research is needed which must be closely linked to the classical areas of agricultural research.

This is one of the key conclusions of the BMBF specialist forum ‘Plant research, climate, sustainability’. In view of the global challenges we face today, participants also emphasised the importance of a wide public debate about technological openness with regard to plant research. Besides the integration of specialist disciplines, this is the most important prerequisite for combating the effects of climate change and avoiding the breakdown of international cooperation.

Interdisciplinary research strategies must, therefore, be more closely integrated into the current thinking of the German government on climate and agricultural policy, and consider measures for adapting to climate change. As a possible response to global challenges the organisers and participants cited the development of a ‘Green Industry’, the so-called bio-economy, as part of the government’s hi-tech strategy.

In his lecture on adaptation strategies to climate dynamics the Chairman of the BioEconomyCouncil, Prof. Dr Reinhard F. Hüttl, stressed that the global challenges of the 21st century demanded sustainable strategies linked to regional demands. ‘Identifying the areas where research into plants, geography and climate overlap can provide impetus for development. For this reason plants are not only the most important renewable raw material; plants are and will remain the cornerstone of human existence.’

This challenge, he continued, calls for a new dimension of research in the field of bio-economy to satisfy the demand for food and raw materials of the chemical industry. It was a point reiterated by the Deputy Chairman, Bernd Müller-Röber, and Hans Kast (BASF Plant Science), member of the Council’s plant work group, in their speeches. Plants are important raw materials, Kast said, but in the future there will be other conceivable ones.

Besides a fundamental openness about technology, new lines of research require a cross-system approach. The necessary high-tech developments in agriculture must integrate local needs and approaches, the speakers insisted. Overall, Germany must become more aware of her global responsibilities, a theme also expressed by the World Café as a discussion forum, which concluded the event.    

Already during Green Week, the German Minister for Research, Annette Schavan, had emphasised the need to produce more biomass on less land. To achieve this the BMBF supported the strengthening of Germany’s position as a centre of research and development. Amongst other things, Schavan announced a new research programme on the use of biological resources. This research programme, she said in January in Berlin, will contribute to feeding the world’s population and help strengthen global sustainable development.

The German Minister for Agriculture, Ilse Aigner, spoke on similar lines in January. The participants of the summit of agricultural ministers, which Aigner had organised during International Green Week in 2009, pledged themselves to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting agriculture to climate change. Accordingly each country is committed to examining their agricultural sector and putting all climate-relevant processes to the test. Measures that are being focused on include the use of renewable energies, carbon storage in the soil, the cross-linking of international agricultural research, training and advice for farmers, and international transfer of technology.

You can read a detailed report of the conference at www.biotechnologie.de

Dr. Andreas Möller
Pressesprecher BioÖkonomieRat
Tel. 030-2063096-91
moeller@biooekonomierat.de