Sustainable Food Systems Can Make a Huge Contribution to Climate Action.
CHALLENGES ➨ Over 820 million people were undernourished in 2018, while agriculture provides livelihoods for 2.5 billion people. ➨ Climate change could push 122 million more people, mainly farmers, into extreme poverty by 2030. ➨ Climate change is projected to increase cereal prices 29 percent by 2050. ➨ Agriculture absorbs 26 percent of the economic impact of climate disasters, rising to 83 percent for drought in developing countries. ➨ Water scarcity affects 40 percent of the population. For every 1 °C rise, 500 million extra people will face a 20 percent dip in renewable water resources. ➨ Transboundary animal and plant pests and diseases are spreading faster with climate change. Plant diseases alone cost the global economy USD 220 billion annually. ➨ Agriculture, forestry and other land use cause almost one quarter of human greenhouse gas emissions. Tropical deforestation and forest degradation account for 11 percent. ➨ A third of global soils are degraded, releasing 78 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and costing over 10 percent of GDP through lost biodiversity and ecosystem services. ➨ Livestock supply chains account for 14.5 percent of human emissions. ➨ The ocean has absorbed over 90 percent of human-induced warming and 30 percent of carbon dioxide emissions. In some Western and Central Pacific island states, small-scale fisheries’ harvests could fall up to 50 percent by 2050. ➨ Around 14 percent of food, worth USD 400 billion, is lost post-harvest before it reaches retailers. Total food losses and waste cause 8 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, according to earlier estimates.
SOLUTIONS ➨ One third of existing, feasible solutions for agreed climate goals come from agriculture. ➨ Nature-based solutions can keep up to 12 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere each year and add USD 2.3 trillion to the global economy. ➨ Rehabilitating agricultural and degraded soils can remove 51 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in total, and raise food production by 17.6 megatonnes per year. ➨ Emissions from livestock production, in particular methane, can be cut by 30 percent. ➨ Reducing deforestation and restoring degraded forests can cut emissions by over 5 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent each year. ➨ Fisheries and aquaculture offer significant opportunities to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. ➨ Agriculture accounts for 70 percent of freshwater withdrawals; producing more with less water can address water scarcity.