The European Union together with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledged on Tuesday (12 December) more than \u20ac500 million over the next three years for research and innovation in agriculture.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0 EU, which is the largest donor for development aid, and the\u00a0 Bill\u00a0 and\u00a0 Melinda\u00a0 Gates\u00a0 Foundation, which is the larger philanthropist\u00a0 organisation in this field, will\u00a0 work together\u00a0 on\u00a0 a\u00a0 joint\u00a0 initiative\u00a0 to\u00a0 drive\u00a0 research\u00a0 and\u00a0 technical\u00a0 and\u00a0 organisational innovations\u00a0 across\u00a0 agricultural\u00a0 and\u00a0 food\u00a0 systems\u00a0 in\u00a0 developing\u00a0 countries.<\/p>\n
Both sides consider that more science\u00a0 and\u00a0 innovation\u00a0 is\u00a0 required\u00a0 to\u00a0 address\u00a0 some\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 most\u00a0 pressing challenges\u00a0 posed\u00a0 by\u00a0 climate\u00a0 change.\u00a0 This joint initiative will build on the outcomes of the Paris Agreement and the recent COP23 held in Bonn on the role of agriculture in the climate change agenda.<\/p>\n
Among other philanthropists, Bill Gates is one of the stars at the One Planet\u00a0Summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron on the two-year anniversary of the Paris climate accord, which saw nearly 200 governments agree to end their heavy reliance on fossil fuels and limit further global warming.<\/p>\n
GMOs<\/p>\n
Innovations in agriculture may imply the use of GMOs. Bill Gates is known for his support for genetic engineering. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal last year, he said that GMOs for Africa are going to make a huge difference, particularly because of climate change.<\/p>\n
EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development\u00a0 Neven Mimica\u00a0 said that the impact of climate \u00a0change\u00a0 was especially important for\u00a0 less developed\u00a0 countries,\u00a0 where\u00a0 extreme\u00a0 weather\u00a0 events\u00a0 can\u00a0 cause\u00a0 dramatic\u00a0 yield\u00a0 reductions and\u00a0 even\u00a0 famine.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u00a0 therefore\u00a0 need\u00a0 to\u00a0 support\u00a0 increased\u00a0 research\u00a0 and\u00a0 innovation\u00a0 to confront\u00a0 this\u00a0 challenge\u00a0 and\u00a0 to\u00a0 improve\u00a0 better\u00a0 farming\u00a0 and\u00a0 crop\u00a0 production\u00a0 systems.\u00a0 We need to mobilise both public and private funds to finance this research and I am delighted at\u00a0 the\u00a0 prospect\u00a0 of\u00a0 working\u00a0 with\u00a0 the\u00a0 Bill\u00a0 and\u00a0 Melinda\u00a0 Gates\u00a0 Foundation\u00a0 on\u00a0 this\u00a0 urgent challenge\u201d, said Mimica, according to the partnership was an\u00a0 excellent\u00a0 example\u00a0 of\u00a0 co-operation\u00a0 towards the implementation of the Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n
The Commission will provide \u20ac270 million over the next three years (2018-2020) to foster a strong climate change focus in agriculture and food systems research for development.<\/p>\n
The commitment from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to match this funding with a $300\u00a0 million\u00a0 pledge\u00a0 over\u00a0 the\u00a0 same\u00a0 period\u00a0 (2018-2020)\u00a0 will\u00a0 boost\u00a0 climate\u00a0 change related\u00a0 innovations\u00a0 through\u00a0 research\u00a0 in\u00a0 agriculture.<\/p>\n
Given the size of the challenge and the need for urgent action, the European Commission and\u00a0 the\u00a0 Gates\u00a0 Foundation\u00a0 have\u00a0 started\u00a0 identifying\u00a0 priority\u00a0 investments\u00a0 towards\u00a0 putting research\u00a0 into\u00a0 use,\u00a0 fostering\u00a0 innovation\u00a0 in\u00a0 farming\u00a0 and\u00a0 food\u00a0 systems,\u00a0 and\u00a0 ensuring\u00a0 their climate relevance.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0 generation\u00a0 of\u00a0 scientific\u00a0 knowledge\u00a0 and\u00a0 applied\u00a0 innovations\u00a0 will\u00a0 encompass\u00a0 agronomy for\u00a0 primary\u00a0 production,\u00a0 technology\u00a0 for\u00a0 all\u00a0 steps\u00a0 of\u00a0 processing,\u00a0 general\u00a0 organisation\u00a0 along the value\u00a0 chains, and\u00a0 focus\u00a0 on major\u00a0 activities to increase job\u00a0 creation\u00a0 and food\u00a0 security and\u00a0 nutrition.<\/p>\n
They\u00a0 also\u00a0 aim\u00a0 at\u00a0 enhancing\u00a0 research\u00a0 architecture\u00a0 and\u00a0 developing\u00a0 the national\u00a0 and\u00a0 regional\u00a0 research\u00a0 capacities\u00a0 conducive\u00a0 to\u00a0 innovation.\u00a0 This\u00a0 effort\u00a0 will\u00a0 also increase\u00a0 knowledge\u00a0 and\u00a0 evidence\u00a0 needed\u00a0 for\u00a0 policies\u00a0 and\u00a0 investment\u00a0 decisions.<\/p>\n
The initiative\u00a0 will\u00a0 aim\u00a0 at\u00a0 stronger\u00a0 coordination\u00a0 of\u00a0 strategies\u00a0 and\u00a0 promotion\u00a0 of\u00a0 joint\u00a0 and coordinated\u00a0 actions.\u00a0 It will particularly be based on collaborative activities between member states and all interested partners in order to pool financial resources and human expertise through innovative mechanisms leveraging an increased response.<\/p>\n
Technical\u00a0 work\u00a0 will\u00a0 continue\u00a0 between\u00a0 the\u00a0 \u00a0Commission,\u00a0 the\u00a0 Bill\u00a0 and\u00a0 Melinda Gates Foundation, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and other interested EU member states and partners, in order to identify priorities and develop long-term plans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The European Union together with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledged on Tuesday (12 December) more than \u20ac500 million over the next three years for research and innovation in agriculture. The\u00a0 EU, which is the largest donor for development aid, and the\u00a0 Bill\u00a0 and\u00a0 Melinda\u00a0 Gates\u00a0 Foundation, which is the larger philanthropist\u00a0 organisation in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[5838],"supplier":[4856,2317,5585],"class_list":["post-49868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-bioeconomy","supplier-bill-melinda-gates-foundation","supplier-european-commission","supplier-european-union"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49868\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49868"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=49868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}