Global S&T Development Trend Analysis Platform of Resources and Environment
Our global food system is the primary driver of biodiversity loss | |
admin | |
2021-02-03 | |
发布年 | 2021 |
语种 | 英语 |
国家 | 国际 |
领域 | 资源环境 |
正文(英文) |
London, 3 February, 2021 - Food System Impacts on Biodiversity Loss, the new Chatham House report, supported by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and Compassion in World Farming, describes three actions needed for food system transformation in support of biodiversity, and sets out recommendations to embed food system reform in high level political events over the coming UN ‘Super Year’ for Nature. Our global food system is the primary driver of biodiversity loss, with agriculture alone being the identified threat to 24,000 of the 28,000 (86%) species at risk of extinction. The global rate of species extinction today is higher than the average rate over the past 10 million years. In the last decades our food systems have been following the “cheaper food paradigm”, with a goal of producing more food at lower costs through increasing inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, energy, land and water. This paradigm leads to a vicious circle: the lower cost of food production creates a bigger demand for food that must also be produced at a lower cost through more intensification and further land clearance. The impacts of producing more food at a lower cost are not limited to biodiversity loss. The global food system is a major driver of climate change, accounting for around 30% of total human-produced emissions. According to the new report, a reform of food systems is a matter of urgency and should focus on three interdependent actions:
Dietary change is necessary to enable land to be returned to nature, and to allow widespread adoption of nature-friendly farming without increasing the pressure to convert natural land to agriculture. The more the first action is taken up in the form of dietary change, the more scope there is for the second and third actions. The findings and recommendations of the new Chatham House report were presented today, during an online event which included speakers from UNEP, Chatham House and Compassion in World Farming, as well as Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE, Founder – the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace. An inspiring panel discussion followed with Louise Mabulo, a chef, environmentalist and UN’s Young Champion of the Earth from the Philippines, and Lana Weidgenant, Vice-Chair of Shifting to Sustainable Consumption Patterns at the UN Food Systems Summit and Deputy Director of Zero Hour International. Additional Quotes Susan Gardner, Director of UNEP’s Ecosystems Division, said, “Our current food system is a double edged sword – shaped by decades of the “cheaper food” paradigm, aimed at producing more food, quickly and cheaply without taking into account the hidden costs to biodiversity and its life-supporting services – and to our own health. Professor Tim Benton, Research Director, Emerging Risks; Director, Energy, Environment and Resources Programme at Chatham House, said, “The biggest threats to biodiversity arise from exploitative land use – converting natural habitats to agriculture and farming land intensively – and these are driven by the economic demand for producing ever more calorie-rich, but nutritionally poor, food from fewer and fewer commodities grown at scale. Philip Lymbery, Global Chief Executive at Compassion in World Farming, said, “At a time when so much of the world continues to battle the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s never been more obvious that the well-being of people and animals, wild and farmed, are intertwined.
Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE, Founder – the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace, said, “The intensive farming of billions of animals globally seriously damages the environment, causing loss of biodiversity and producing massive greenhouse gas emissions that accelerate global warming.
NOTES TO EDITORS About the UN Environment Programme UNEP is the leading global voice on the environment. It provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. About Chatham House About Compassion in World Farming Compassion in World Farming was founded in 1967 by a British dairy farmer who became horrified at the development of intensive factory farming. Today Compassion is the leading farm animal welfare organisation dedicated to ending factory farming and achieving humane and sustainable food. With headquarters in the UK, we have offices across Europe, in the US, China and South Africa. To find out more about Compassion in World Farming visit: For more information, please contact: |
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来源平台 | United Nations Environment Programme |
文献类型 | 新闻 |
条目标识符 | http://119.78.100.173/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/313417 |
专题 | 资源环境科学 |
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714 | admin. Our global food system is the primary driver of biodiversity loss. 2021. |
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