Role of Technology and Innovation in Restructuring Agriculture to Climate Change

The US National Research Council just related a seminal report called ‚A New Biologyfor the 21st century’*. This report recognizes the central role biotechnology in addressingfuture environmental, energy and food security problems. It is argued that over the nextfew decades we will see a transition from a petrochemical industry into a more cleanbiological industry. Yet, surprisingly, hardly any international conference on climatechange has put the role of biotechnology on the agenda. At the same time, nationalgovernments continue to subsidize agriculture, the coal industry and many otherindustries that have some economic or political importance. In many cases they are alsoexempt from CO2 emission permits.In my research I investigate possible reasons for these inconsistences by analyzing thepublic debate on climate change from a political economy point view. In this context, Ifocus on the gate-keepers who set the global agenda on climate change but may also havetheir own agenda reflected through their respective institutional affiliations and personalcommitments.