Former vice president Al Gore will visit Dublin next month to attend a summit in Dublin on the links between climate change, hunger and poor nutrition.
Presidents Michael D. Higgins, Mary Robinson and Joyce Banda will also attend the international conference titled “Hunger- Nutrition- Climate Justice” at Dublin Castle on April 15 and 16. The conference is part of Ireland’s presidency of the European Union.
The conference overview on the Irish Aid’s website states, “The objective will be to facilitate a respectful dialogue and learn from practical experience and robust evidence to inform a new approach to addressing hunger, nutrition and climate justice, in the context of the new Post-2015 international development agenda.”
Conference organisers have said that more than 100 people representing farmers’ organizations and vulnerable communities from Africa, Asia and the Arctic will discuss the impact unpredictable weather patterns are having on their lives and what solutions they are working on. People facing rising food prices, failed crops and under-nutrition will speak at the conference.
Representatives from business and advocacy groups, research institutions and academia will also contribute to the conference.
According to the conference overview, the goal of the conference “will not simply be to adopt an outcome document. We hope to inspire new ways of thinking about global development challenges and to invigorate and broaden the debate, at all levels, listening to and learning from the experiences of local people and rooting future thematic policy approaches in their lives and theirs efforts to cope.”
Under-nutrition in mothers and children is the underlying cause of 2.5 million deaths each year. Almost one third of children under the age of five in developing countries suffer from stunted growth and never reach their full potential.
An estimated 870 million people worldwide face hunger. Climate change could increase the number of hunger by 10 to 20% by 2050 and an additional 24 million malnourished children. Predictions suggest that half of those children will be in sub-Saharan Africa.
The conference is hosted by the Irish Government and the Mary Robinson Foundation- Climate Justice. It is organized in partnership with the World Food Programme and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security.
Participation in the conference is by invitation only, but the event will be live streamed. In addition, several background papers will be available online and the conference will use social media before and during the event.
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