Lunchtime Conversation - From Price Shocks to Policy Responses: Climate Change, Food Insecurity, and the Limits of Environmental Diplomacy

Climate change is reshaping the conditions under which food is grown, traded, and priced - with measurable consequences for social stability. This talk traces that causal chain from the field to the negotiating table. Drawing on quantitative analysis of climate-induced food price volatility and its correlation with civil unrest, we examine how systemic food insecurity creates political pressure at the domestic level. We then explore whether international legal frameworks, particularly the UNCCD and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, are designed and implemented in ways adequate to address these pressures. We argue that the gap between the urgency signalled by price and protest data and the pace of multilateral diplomatic response represents one of the central governance challenges of the coming decade.

Speakers: 

• Tejas Rao, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge
• Danilo Rosin, Bennett School of Public Policy

Speaker slides:

• Tejas Rao
• Danilo Rosin