Post by Andrei Tchentchik on Sept 4, 2019 16:23:39 GMT 2
(.#A.015).- Humanity must act quickly.
Humanity must act quickly.
Friday, August 9, 2019.
Properly feed the billions of Earth people or fight against global warming? The IPCC outlined thursday ways to avoid one day facing this dilemma, and called for action - AFP
Humans have degraded a quarter of the land surface - soil erosion, desertification, deforestation, loss of biodiversity ... - and climate change increases this pressure. This explosive mix poses a threat to the food security of a growing population of nearly 8 billion people.
CLIMATE CHANGE
These are the major conclusions of the IPCC Special Report on "Climate Change, Desertification, Land Degradation, Sustainable Land Management, Food Security and Greenhouse Gas Flows in Terrestrial Ecosystems" unveiled Thursday at Geneva.
"Human pressure on land is growing, land is part of the solution, but can not do everything," Debra Roberts, co-chair of the UN climate panel, told the press.
The food system generates "up to a third of our emissions" of greenhouse gases, said Eduardo Calvo Buendia, co-chair of the IPCC.
And too intensive farming practices can deplete soils. Time is running out, while global warming is already reaching 1.53 degrees Celsius, double the global rise (oceans included), according to the report.
INSTABILITY
The risks of instability in terms of food supply could be "very high" at 2 degrees Celsius, said Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Co-Chair of the IPCC.
We must act quickly, insists the IPCC, which lists a series of measures applicable in the short term, adapted to regional specificities. In addition, passages have been added to the 65-page summary for policy makers, adopted after five days of discussion among the 195 member countries, to take into account the problem of cities and rampant urbanization.
We want to "reduce emissions from land as much as possible", but without forgetting "the other part of the equation: greenhouse gas emissions mainly from the energy sector," insisted Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC.
The IPCC has developed different scenarios to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius or below 2 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial period. They include land-based mitigation measures and changes in use, combining deforestation, reforestation, reduced deforestation and bio-energy.
LESS MEAT
Solutions also exist on the side of the food system and consumption habits. Currently, "25% to 30% of total food production is wasted," he says, while about 820 million people go hungry.
If in poor areas the supply of animal protein is sometimes insufficient, in rich countries it can exceed the nutritional recommendations, with 2 billion overweight or obese adults.
The report highlights the environmental and health benefits of less meat-rich diets, but "the IPCC does not prescribe people's diets," said Co-Chair Jim Skea.
Agriculture, forestry and other land uses account for 23% of total greenhouse gas emissions.
F I N.
Humanity must act quickly.
Friday, August 9, 2019.
Properly feed the billions of Earth people or fight against global warming? The IPCC outlined thursday ways to avoid one day facing this dilemma, and called for action - AFP
Humans have degraded a quarter of the land surface - soil erosion, desertification, deforestation, loss of biodiversity ... - and climate change increases this pressure. This explosive mix poses a threat to the food security of a growing population of nearly 8 billion people.
CLIMATE CHANGE
These are the major conclusions of the IPCC Special Report on "Climate Change, Desertification, Land Degradation, Sustainable Land Management, Food Security and Greenhouse Gas Flows in Terrestrial Ecosystems" unveiled Thursday at Geneva.
"Human pressure on land is growing, land is part of the solution, but can not do everything," Debra Roberts, co-chair of the UN climate panel, told the press.
The food system generates "up to a third of our emissions" of greenhouse gases, said Eduardo Calvo Buendia, co-chair of the IPCC.
And too intensive farming practices can deplete soils. Time is running out, while global warming is already reaching 1.53 degrees Celsius, double the global rise (oceans included), according to the report.
INSTABILITY
The risks of instability in terms of food supply could be "very high" at 2 degrees Celsius, said Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Co-Chair of the IPCC.
We must act quickly, insists the IPCC, which lists a series of measures applicable in the short term, adapted to regional specificities. In addition, passages have been added to the 65-page summary for policy makers, adopted after five days of discussion among the 195 member countries, to take into account the problem of cities and rampant urbanization.
We want to "reduce emissions from land as much as possible", but without forgetting "the other part of the equation: greenhouse gas emissions mainly from the energy sector," insisted Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC.
The IPCC has developed different scenarios to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius or below 2 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial period. They include land-based mitigation measures and changes in use, combining deforestation, reforestation, reduced deforestation and bio-energy.
LESS MEAT
Solutions also exist on the side of the food system and consumption habits. Currently, "25% to 30% of total food production is wasted," he says, while about 820 million people go hungry.
If in poor areas the supply of animal protein is sometimes insufficient, in rich countries it can exceed the nutritional recommendations, with 2 billion overweight or obese adults.
The report highlights the environmental and health benefits of less meat-rich diets, but "the IPCC does not prescribe people's diets," said Co-Chair Jim Skea.
Agriculture, forestry and other land uses account for 23% of total greenhouse gas emissions.
F I N.
