LRQA COP 16 Blog, Day three – Climate Change and Food Security
3rd December 2010 by Madlen King
By Madlen King, Global Head of Climate Change and Sustainability, LRQA
Follow LRQA on Twitter @LRQA_CC_CSR
Today I attended a very thought provoking side event entitled ‘Food for all in a Warming World’.
The event presented the current global position with regard to food security: the need for adaptation of present practices to achieve stated required increases in food production of 70% by 2050; the need to achieve this whilst working around the less predictable climate patterns and increasing droughts currently being experienced world-wide, whilst also minimising carbon emissions in the process.
Richard Brand of CDS stated that agriculture is responsible for between 17 and 32% of global anthropogenic GHG emissions, but this figure would be far larger if it included the emissions attributable to the transport requirements of these food products from production to consumption. Clearly with present high GHG emission contributions and the need for substantial increases in production, there is a need for proactive adaptation of existing practices to ensure that this growth is aligned with climate policy.
If ‘Business-as-usual in agriculture is no longer an option’ why is it that beyond the discussions on soil carbon, agriculture does not feature heavily in the negotiations presently on-going in Cancun? It seems clear that these issues need greater consideration in combination and must feature to a greater degree before, during and beyond UN negotiations at COP17 in Durban next year.
Visit LRQA website to see the full event coverage from Madlen King.
Follow LRQA on Twitter @LRQA_CC_CSR or visit www.climate-change.lrqa.com
Madlen King is the Global Head of Climate Change & Sustainability. She ensures the technical integrity of LRQA climate change and sustainability services and liaises with external bodies and governments on climate change. Within this role, Madlen is responsible for the service design, delivery and maintenance of accreditations for all GHG validation and verification schemes [...]