New chief scientist's advice to Defra

Defra's new chief scientific adviser Prof Robert Watson spoke about climate change at the Oxford Farming Conference. After his speech, WILLIAM SURMAN caught up with him and asked what sort of advice he would be giving Defra Secretary Hilary Benn.

AFTER Prof Robert Watson had delivered his high-octane, high-information speech, one delegate declared himself 'absolutely knackered' from listening.

Having worked as a senior adviser at NASA, as a top aide to President Clinton and chaired the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Prof Watson has a wealth of knowledge to share. With it he has a startling ability to motor through subjects in enough detail to educate, but not too much to confuse.

First of all, Prof Watson wanted to set something straight – there was no trade-off between food security policy and environmental policy, he said, but they went hand in hand.

"Globally we need to produce the food that people need in a sustainable manner," he told Farmers Guardian after his address to the conference.