Comment: UN chief warning on global food crisis

ECIU's Matt Williams on the UN chief warning on global food crisis.

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By George Smeeton

info@eciu.net

Information on this page correct as of:

Responding to warnings by UN Secretary-General António Guterres that the global food crisis is being worsened by the Ukraine crisis and climate change [1], Matt Williams, Climate and Land Programme Lead at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said:

“With Met Office analysis showing that the Indian heatwave wreaking havoc with lives and crops has been made 100 times more likely by climate change and such severe heat is now due every three years [2], sticking plaster solutions are no longer enough.

“The world’s governments are going to have to create a much more resilient food system for the long-term, and that has to include reducing the one third of global emissions that the food system generates, exacerbating the very climate impacts that are hurting production. With war and worsening extreme weather, short-termist solutions will only see us simply limp from crisis to crisis.”


Notes to editors:

1. António Guterres was speaking at the Global Food Security Call to Action ministerial meeting in New York:https://www.un.org/press/en/2022/sgsm21285.doc.htm

2. Climate change making heatwaves more intense: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/press-office/news/weather-and-climate/2022/southern-asian-heatwave-attribution-study-2022

For more information:

George Smeeton, Head of Communications, ECIU, Tel: 07894 571 153, email: george.smeeton@eciu.net