Fenner conference on sustainable agriculture deferred until March

The Fenner Conference on Environment, scheduled for 30 September and 1 October this year in Canberra, has been deferred until March 17 and 18 next year because of Covid.

The conference is addressing “Making Australian agriculture sustainable” and will feature many impressive speakers from the farming and academic community.

Conference co-organiser and National President of Sustainable Population Australia, Ms Jenny Goldie, said the decision was made in light of the deteriorating Covid situation.

“Sydney has been in lockdown for weeks and more and more regions are affected because of the Delta strain,” says Ms Goldie. “While Canberra has been largely Covid-free and not subject to lockdowns, nevertheless, there is no guarantee this would continue for the next two months.

“The Academy of Science, the main sponsor of the Conference, allowed the deferral. The organising committee was keen to have an in-person conference, and not just have it on-line, because of the value of face-to-face discussions amongst attendees and speakers.”

Ms Goldie says Sustainable Population Australia initiated the conference out of concern that the deteriorating environmental situation, sometimes exacerbated by industrialised agriculture, would not allow future human populations to be fed adequately.

“The United Nations predicts there will be another two billion people to feed by 2050,” she says. “Even now with 7.8 billion people globally, one in nine are under-nourished. The Green Revolution 50 years ago allowed another four billion people to be fed, but with desertification and loss of soil nutrients, we may not be able to feed even the existing population before long.”

The Fenner Conference will be held at the Shine Dome in Canberra on 17 & 18 March 2022.