Supported by the Council of Agriculture (COA), the Rural Economics Society of Taiwan (REST) held the 2016 East Asia, South Asia, and Taiwan-Japan-Korea Agricultural Economy International Seminar in National Taiwan University campus on Nov. 6, 2016. Topics of the seminar include important issues in agriculture such as agricultural marketing and innovation, trade and globalization, agricultural production and labor, rural development and leisure, and climate change among others. In response to the increasing impact of climate change, the organizers had especially invited the renowned American scholar Bruce A. McCarl to visit Taiwan and deliver a keynote speech entitled Agricultural Decision Making under Climate Change.

　　Bruce A. McCarl is a Distinguished Professor of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University. He is an important member of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He specializes in statistics and risk analysis. His research efforts have involved policy analysis in water resources, economy, climate change, and climate change mitigation.

　　Prof. McCarl also paid a visit to Deputy Minister of COA, Chen Chi-chung, on November 3, 2016, and discussed about the impact of extreme weather on Taiwan. He suggested that Taiwan should tackle the problems at the natural and social level. At the natural level, cultivate climate-resilient varieties and seedlings, innovate climate-resilient cultivation technology, and develop agricultural facilities. At the social level, utilize measures such as trade, inventory, and agricultural insurance to spread the risk brought by climate change; therefore enhance the adaptation capacity of agriculture.

　　The COA stated that Prof. McCarl's advice coincided with the direction of Taiwan’s climate change policies. In the future, the Government will continue to take an even more active stance in adopting relevant response measures, and strive to seek more opportunities for sustainable development of Taiwan’s agriculture.

Prof. McCarl paid a visit to COA Deputy Minister Chen Chi-chung.

Prof. McCarl with COA officials.