"The 9 Billion People question" set for Feb. 7

The United Nations estimates that by 2050 the planet’s human population will be 9.6 billion — stretching the resources of an already resource-stretched world. “The 9 Billion People Question: The Challenge of Global Resource Scarcity,” the 2014 symposium of the Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs, will examine the impact of global resource scarcity on the world’s legal, agricultural, and security environments. The symposium will be held in the Apfelbaum Family Auditorium of Lewis Katz Hall in Carlisle, PA, with simulcast to the Lewis Katz Building in University Park, PA, on February 7, beginning at 9 a.m.

“This event will bring together distinguished academics, commentators, practitioners and policymakers to address the legal, geopolitical, development and security issues stemming from global resource scarcity,” said Amy Gaudion, assistant dean for academic affairs and executive editor of the Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs. Attendees will gain an understanding of the gaps and inefficiencies in the legal regimes governing the global food system, examine the most urgent challenges facing agricultural aid and development programs, and hear from experts on how the U.S. Farm Bill and related legislation impact global affairs. The symposium will provide an insider’s perspective on how an integrated law and policy approach can achieve greater availability of and access to food, water and energy for the world’s growing population.

Agenda Highlights

• Keynote Address: Jonathan Shrier, Acting Special Representative for Global Food Security at the U.S. Department of State.

• Panel One — Law, Trade, and the Global Food System, with Carmen G. Gonzalez, professor of law at Seattle University School of Law; David Blandford, professor of agricultural and environmental economics at Penn State University and editor of WTO Disciplines on Agricultural Support; ​​Terence P. Stewart, managing partner of Stewart and Stewart of Washington, D.C. and adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center; and William F. Fox, distinguished scholar in residence at Penn State’s Dickinson School of Law and senior research fellow at the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy at the University of Dundee, Scotland

• Panel Two — The U.S. Farm Bill and International Agricultural Aid, with Erin Lentz, professor of international studies at Bucknell University; Marc Cohen, senior researcher at Oxfam America and professorial lecturer in international development at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University; Dale Moore, director of policy at American Farm Bureau and former chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and Dennis Jett, professor of international affairs at Penn State’s School of International Affairs and former ambassador to Mozambique and Peru.

• Panel Three — The Global Politics of Resource Scarcity, with Bryan L. McDonald, assistant professor of science, technology, and society at Penn State University, and editor of Global Environmental Change and Human Security; Kent Butts, senior lecturer at Penn State Harrisburg, senior fellow to the Center for Naval Analysis and co-editor of Sustainability and National Security. 

CLE Credit for Lawyers

The Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board has approved this program for 5.0 hours of substantive law, practice, and procedure credit and zero hours of ethics, substance abuse, and professionalism credit. Attorneys seeking credit in states other than Pennsylvania may request a Uniform Attendance Certification to self-report, which will be mailed to attendees following the program.

Registration

Registration is required for this event. Fees for those seeking CLE credit will be $99 for alumni and $149 for all others. Fees include continental breakfast, lunch, on-site parking, Wi-Fi access and materials.​  The event is open to the public and free for those not seeking CLE credit.

Register now