FAQs Chapter 5 — Special Report on Climate Change and Land

FAQ 5.1

How does climate change affect food security?

Climate change negatively affects all four pillars of food security: availability, access, utilisation and stability. Food availability may be reduced by negative climate change impacts on productivity of crops, livestock and fish, due, for instance, to increases in temperature and changes in rainfall patterns. Productivity is also negatively affected by increased pests and diseases, as well as changing distributions of pollinators under climate change. Food access and its stability may be affected through disruption of markets, prices, infrastructure, transport, manufacture, and retail, as well as direct and indirect changes in income and food purchasing power of low-income consumers. Food utilisation may be directly affected by climate change due to increases in mycotoxins in food and feed with rising temperatures and increased frequencies of extreme events, and indirectly through effects on health. Elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentrations can increase yields at lower temperature increases, but tend to decrease protein content in many crops, reducing their nutritional values. Extreme events, for example, flooding, will affect the stability of food supply directly through disruption of transport and markets.

FAQ 5.2

How can changing diets help address climate change?

Agricultural activities emit substantial amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Food supply chain activities past the farm gate (e.g., transportation, storage, packaging) also emit GHGs, for instance due to energy use. GHG emis- sions from food production vary across food types. Producing animal-sourced food (e.g., meat and dairy) emits larger amount of GHGs than growing crops, especially in intensive, industrial livestock systems. This is mainly true for commodities produced by ruminant livestock such as cattle, due to enteric fermentation processes that are large emitters of methane. Changing diets towards a lower share of animal-sourced food, once implemented at scale, reduces the need to raise livestock and changes crop production from animal feed to human food. This reduces the need for agricultural land compared to present and thus generates changes in the current food system. From field to consumer this would reduce overall GHG emissions. Changes in consumer behaviour beyond dietary changes, such as reduction of food waste, can also have, at scale, effects on overall GHG emissions from food systems. Consuming regional and seasonal food can reduce GHG emissions, if they are grown efficiently.