Comment on India heatwave and wheat production

Commenting on India’s record-breaking heatwave and the impact on farming and wheat production [1], Matt Williams, Climate and Land Programme Lead at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said: "Millions of people could be severely affected by the heatwave in India - another sign of the growing human cost of extreme weather. India might have stepped in to fill some of the global gap in wheat production caused by the invasion of Ukraine. But the new normal of extreme weather could put paid to that in India and other places around the world. Climate change will make this far worse in coming years and decades.

"The last major global food price spike, in 2011, was driven by a heatwave in Russia, and lead to food shortages that contributed to major political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa. Limiting malnutrition, starvation, and political instability will increasingly mean helping farmers to cope with the impacts of climate change and to achieve net zero."

Matt Williams is available for further comment or interview.

ENDS