Facing a global population that is expected to grow more than nine billion by 2050, agricultural pesticides (ag-pests) are increasingly used throughout the world to enhance agricultural yield. Nevertheless, the intensification of agriculture, through the high application of pesticides, also intensifies the loss of biodiversity and the production of unsustainable food as to harm the ecosystems, jeopardise human health, and undermine the enjoyment of fundamental human rights.

At the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15), numerous states negotiated to, among others, eliminate environmentally harmful subsidies by 2030 and made strong commitments towards sustainable food systems, including requirements and strategies for a reduction in the use of pesticide by 2050. And yet, both production and trade of agricultural products are escalating globally.

Against this background, our international conference on “Agricultural Pesticides Vs Food Sustainability: A Need to Produce Ground-Breaking Knowledge from an Interdisciplinary and Dialoguing Perspective” will explore the complexity surrounding the regulation of ag-pests.