http://www.khaleejtimes.com/news/government/climate-change-and-food-security-inextricably-linked

 

Climate change must be urgently addressed to ensure global food security, according to experts speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai.

 

Speaking at the summit on Tuesday morning, UAE Minister of Climate Change and the Environment Dr Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi noted that, on a global scale, food continues to be wasted at a tremendous rate. 

"We need quantum leaps in terms of agriculture and food. The world is actually wasting one-third of the food we produce, the equivalent of 2.6 trillion dollars," he said. "We need food efficiency in the same way we need energy efficiency."

"We need to educate ourselves on the way we grow and consume food, and we need to reimagine the industry in a way that inspires a new generation of farmers and food entrepreneurs," he added.

Tshering Tobgay, Prime Minister of Bhutan, noted that the climate change and its potential impact on food production would likely fall disproportionately on the world's poor.

"We don't need to panic, but we need to be concerned, especially for the poor," he said. "They depend on agriculture, and unless we control climate change, the poor are going to be affected the most."

"My belief is that if you can't help someone, at least don't harm them," Tobgay added. "Don't over consume, don't waste food, and don't unnecessarily contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. It makes matters worse for the poor, who are already desperate."

Jose Graziano Da Silva, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), noted that there are a number of steps governments can take to ensure food efficiency.

"We have so many technologies that farmers don't use because they don't know (about them), so we have to help them," he said. "Financial support is also important. Small farmers will not be able to adapt to climate change if they are not funded, or don't have access to finances."

"Lastly, we need research. Innovation is key for the future," he added. "What we need is a new green revolution, in which we produce more while respecting the environment."

Patricia Espinosa - Mexico's former Secretary of Foreign Affairs and currently the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) - said that governments alone are not up to the task of combating climate change and preventing global food shortages.

"The whole agenda derived from the Paris Agreement is an agenda that governments alone can't deliver," she said. "It involves the private sector, scientists, civil society, and individual citizens."

"The private sector has a very specific, important role to play, in part because the necessary investments cannot come only from public funds," Espinosa added. "There are an incredible amount of opportunities that the private sector needs to seize."