The United Nations yesterday warned that an additional 600 million people could be subjected to malnutrition by 2080 as a result of the severe threats posed to food security by climate change.
Making this warning in a press release made available to our correspondent in New York, Hilal Elver, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, said global leaders must urgently stop the severe and distinct threats on food security.
Furthermore, the UN food expert added that increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather, rising temperatures and sea levels,as well as floods and droughts had a significant impact on the right to food.
According to Ms. Elver, all these climate incidents would negatively impact on crops, livestock, fisheries, aquaculture and on people’s livelihoods.
Warning that responding to the food demand through large-scale production oriented agricultural models was not the right solution, the UN official noted that there was a need for a major shift from industrial agriculture to trans-formative systems such as aggro-ecology that support the local food movement, protect small holder farmers, respect human rights, food democracy and cultural traditions, and at the same time maintain environmental sustainability and facilitate a healthy diet.
She continued that those who had contributed the least to global warming were the ones set to suffer the most from its harmful effects, urging that urgent action was needed to respond to the challenges posed by climate change.
“Civil society pressure is mounting on the parties of the United Nations framework Convention On Climate Change(UNFCCC) to achieve results in Paris by adopting a human rights approach to the climate change agreement that will respect, protect and fulfill human rights of all persons, and especially those most vulnerable. Any agreement must include a clear commitment by all relevant parties to ensuring climate justice and food security for all,” Ms. Elver said.
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