2022 World Food Prize Awarded to Former IPCC Author Cynthia Rosenzweig

GENEVA, May 5 – Former author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig, has been named the 2022 World Food Prize Laureate for her pioneering work in modeling the impact of climate change on food production. Awarded by the World Food Prize Foundation, the $250,000 prize recognizes Rosenzweig’s achievements as the founder of the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP). AgMIP is a globally integrated transdisciplinary network of climate and food system modelers. According to the announcement from the World Food Prize Foundation, AgMIP has directly helped decision-makers in more than 90 countries enhance their resilience to climate change.

“I am honoured to receive the World Food Prize this year, as food systems are emerging at the forefront of climate change action. Climate change cannot be restrained without attention to food system emissions, and food security for all cannot be provided without resilience to increasing climate extremes,” said Dr. Rosenzweig. “I salute the modelers around the world in AgMIP for their tireless work helping countries to achieve food security both now and in the future under changing climate conditions,” she added.

Cynthia Rosenzweig was one of the Coordinating Lead Authors of the food chapter on IPCC’s Special Report on Climate Change and Land. She has been involved in IPCC’s work since the First Assessment Report where she was a Contributing Author. She was a Lead Author on the Second and Third Assessment Reports, a Coordinating Lead Author on the Fourth Assessment Report and worked on that report’s Synthesis Report. She is currently a Senior Research Scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Adjunct Senior Research Scientist at the Columbia Climate School.

Barbara Stinson, President of the World Food Prize Foundation, announced the 2022 Laureate on 5 May during a ceremony hosted by the U.S. Department of State.  Rosenzweig will officially receive the World Food Prize at a ceremony in October 2022.