Media briefing: Climate impacts on UK food imports

Who: Professor Tim Benton, Director of the Environment and Society Centre, Chatham House; Professor Rosie Green, Co-Director of the Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Amber Sawyer, Energy and Climate Analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), and author on the report being published today; Gareth Redmond-King, Head of International Programme, ECIU (Chair).

About

At the opening of the UN climate summit in Dubai, the COP28 Presidency announced that 134 world leaders have signed up to declaration on agriculture, food and climate action, marking a commitment to cut carbon emissions in the global food system for the first time.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) backed the declaration as it released a report highlighting the need for investment to boost resilience in rural infrastructure and natural resources management. As ECIU publishes new analysis highlighting the vulnerability of UK food imports from countries most vulnerable and least resilient to climate impacts, as well as the role of climate finance in boosting resilience, this media briefing will examine:

• The vulnerability of the global food system to climate change impacts and the implications of that, including for people’s health;
• The implications for UK imports, as well as the importance and means of helping climate vulnerable countries to adapt to worsening climate impacts;

What the announcements on food and agriculture at COP mean for managing these risks, and what needs to happen to cement action to deliver on commitments.

If you have any questions about it, please contact George Smeeton: george.smeeton@eciu.net, t: +44 (0)7894 571 153.