The impact of drug policy on the environment

Events

The impact of drug policy on the environment

3 December 2015
Open Society Foundations (OSF)

Please join the Open Society Global Drug Policy Program and a panel of international experts on Wednesday, December 9 from 6-9pm for a discussion and cocktail reception: The Impact of Drug Policy on the Environment.

In the lead up to the UNGASS in April 2016, OSF is hosting a series of public events and producing reports designed to inform the New York-based missions and the wider public on some of the important issues addressed at this meeting.

Next week, while the Climate Change Conference is being held in Paris, an international panel of experts, moderated by Brian Winters, editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly, will discuss the role of drug crop cultivation in environmental devastation. The event will also launch a brief report outlining key recommendations on the topic for UN member states to consider leading up to the 2016 UN General Assembly Special Session on drugs.

The panel discuss how drug crop cultivation has played a disproportionately large role in deforesting and degrading some of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems, including those in national parks and indigenous territories. Additionally, the speakers will examine why environmental devastation is proliferating in drug trafficking regions despite sustained investments in drug interdiction and other anti-trafficking measures.

Details:

Date: December 9, 2015

Time: 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Location: Open Society Foundations—New York; 224 W. 57th Street

RSVP: Mariam.Tanzilla@opensocietyfoundations.org

Moderator:

  • Brian Winter is the Editor-in-Chief of Americas Quarterly and Vice President, Americas Society/Council of the Americas

Speakers:

  • Kendra McSweeney is a professor in the Department of Geography at Ohio State University
  • Kate Horner is the Director of Forest Campaigns at Environmental Investigation Agency.
  • Guillermo Ospina is a professor at Cauca University in Colombia.
  • Nazih Richani is an associate professor and director of Latin American Studies and Political Science at Kean University.
  • Alexander Soros is a member of the Open Society Foundations Global Board and founder of the Alexander Soros Foundation. He will participate by video.

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Thumbnail: Yuel Flickr CC