Climate Change and Food Systems: Global assessments and implications for food security and trade

Climate Change and Food Systems: Global assessments and implications for food security and trade

Year of publication 2015

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 357 p.

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Book (stand-alone)

ISBN 978-92-5-108699-5

Edition 1

Full item page

Synopsis (short abstract) This book collects the findings of a group of scientists and economists who have taken stock of climate change impacts on food and agriculture at global and regional levels over the past two decades. The evidence presented describes how global warming will impact where and how food is produced and discusses the significant consequences for food security, health and nutrition, water scarcity and climate adaptation. The book also highlights the implications for global food trade. The evidence pres ented in the book is presented in a way that is widely accessible to policy decision makers and practitioners and makes a distinct contribution towards a greater science-policy interchange. Put together, the different analyses in the book paint a comprehensive perspective linking climate change to food, nutrition, water, and trade along with suggested policy responses.

Language English

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

Book (stand-alone)

FAO/IPCC Expert meeting on land use, climate change and food security 2017

Also available in:

No results found.

One hundred scientists, economists and policy experts participated in a three-day expert meeting (EM) to engage in a high-level, globally oriented, and multidisciplinary scoping of topics that climate change to land use and food security. The EM was structured around five themes: climate impacts and human-directed drivers of land change and linkages to food security; mitigation and adaptation options; and policies for resource management, smallholder resilience, mitigation and food and nutrition security. The present report offers a comprehensive synthesis of the EM findings and conclusions reflecting the collective view participants and external reviewers. The report is a valuable source for the IPCC above-mentioned Special Report, especially in relation to food security, as well to researchers and policy makers concerned with the policy implication of food security in relation to post-Paris climate action and Agenda 2030.
Book (stand-alone)

Irrigation scheduling: From theory to practice. Proceedings 1996

Also available in:

No results found.
Book (stand-alone)

Potential conflicts between agricultural trade rules and climate change treaty commitments.
The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets (SOCO) 2018: Background paper
2018

Also available in:

No results found.

Climate change – among its many other challenges – also affects the conditions of competition along the whole food value chain. This article posits that many mitigation and adaptation policies imply a differentiation between otherwise identical products but with different carbon footprints. Where imports are affected, there is a potential for trade frictions. The main issue appears to be a climate-smart treatment of like products with different (non-product-related) production and processing methods (ppm). Now that national governments start implementing their commitments under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, they have to closely look at the trade and investment impact of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The NDCs presently available remain silent on concrete measures involving product differentiation according to footprint differences, be it by way of border adjustment measures, subsidies, prohibitions, or restrictions. The non-discrimination principle enshrined in the multilateral trading system can be a problem for such differentiations. No climate-smart agricultural measures have yet been notified to the World Trade Organization (WTO). But several renewable energy programmes have been found to violate WTO rules. Potential problems could arise, for instance, from differentiating tariffs, import restrictions or taxes according to carbon footprint. Conditions of competition might even be affected by labels signalling products with a bigger (or a “climate-friendly”) footprint, or through subsidies and incentives compensating domestic producers subject to emissions reductions, prohibitions, and input restrictions. A second major problem lies in the way the Paris Agreement and the WTO address the Development Dimension. In the Paris Agreement, the Development Dimension is addressed by the notion of Common but Differentiated Responsibility (CBDR), leaving Parties free in terms of how they take development into account in their NDCs. On the other side, the Special and Differentiated Treatment (SDT) foreseen in all WTO agreements for developing country products and services appears incapable of dealing with the global impact of all emissions, regardless of their origin, or with the negative impact on developing country exports to climate-smart markets in developed countries. In conclusion, we suggest that a review of the climate-relevant trade and investment rules is necessary at the international level, involving climate, and agriculture and trade regulators, supported by scientific, economic and legal expertise. The purpose of this review is to avoid litigation jeopardising the implementation of the Paris Agreement. At the same time, such a review must be comprehensive, because the objective is to ensure maximum policy space for climate mitigation and adaptation without negatively affecting other countries, or unduly restricting trade and investment, especially in poor developing countries. Last but not least, this intergovernmental and inter-institutional review is urgent, because the results should provide as quickly as possible the legal security necessary for investors and operators, regulators, NDC developments and reviews, and international standard-setting processes.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

No results found.