The impacts of global change on crop production and food security are already hitting hard in Europe and the rest of the world. An essential component of efforts to mitigate these impacts is the production of new varieties of crops which can thrive in more extreme, changeable and uncertain environmental conditions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has emphasized the need for greater use of both within and between species diversity in farming systems in order to provide sufficient options for the adaptation of crops as an insurance against climate variability. We are therefore dependent on the continual availability of a wide pool of plant genetic resources to sustain our food and economic security, yet despite the vast pool of resources that exists, we face significant hurdles in mobilizing them for effective and sustainable use.