U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon opened the three-day UN World Food Security summit in Rome Monday, warning the international community that the world cannot achieve food security without first tackling global warming.
Mr. Ban said the human cost of the food crisis has been enormous. Millions of families have been pushed into poverty and hunger. In the past year, food insecurity has affected about 30 countries.
The U.N. secretary general said there can be no food security without climate security.
"The food crisis is a wake-up call for tomorrow. By 2050 our planet may be the home of 9.1 billion people, over two billion more than today," he said. "At a time when the global population is growing, our global climate is changing. By 2050 we will need to grow 70 percent more food, yet weather is becoming more extreme and unpredictable," he said.
Mr. Ban said a comprehensive agreement is needed at a climate change summit next month in Copenhagen. Such an accord, he said, must provide a firm foundation for a legally binding treaty on climate change.
FAO Director General Jacques Diouf gave a clear picture of the numbers involved.
"One billion hungry people, that is one of every group of six persons in the world, 105 million more than in 2008, five children dying every 30 seconds. Beyond numbers this means suffering for each of these human beings," he said (Link)
As the world's top leaders including the US President Barack Obama have not turned up for this summit, there are fears that the new commitments to deal with the food crisis may not materialise. The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is the only leader of a G8 country attending the summit. Italy of course is hosting the summit.
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5 comments:
Interesting post! Politicians are not there to take care of people, but corporations. We need to harness technology to provide food for everyone. well we already have such techs if use wisely and if our energy was redirected from self-centered profit motive corporations to creating this abundancy, we would achieve it. Climate change comes with all these things.
We have to yet learn that we survive because our environment allows us to. the minute for example oxygen is taken away, we are dead. most of the people are dumbed down by commercials and lipsticks and do not ponder on these urgent matters.
Hi Stewie.
Thank you for your comments.
Technology is available to grow food and distribute to everyone. But it can only be done if financial resources are allocated, utilised properly and politicians lead to take care of the people instead of squabbling in endless disputes and fighting wars.
As a country that is threatened most by the rise in sea level, Maldives is a frontline state on climate change. Climate change and food security are both important for us and our politicians in the ruling and opposition party and our lawmakers could do well, if they stop wasting time on inconsequential issues and focus on the important work of survival and sustainable development.
True. But allocating finances is the real problem here. Money is not the resources. The real question here is not do we have enough money, but do we have enough resources to provide for everyone. I think if a full survey of the world is done to determine the minerals and resources of the earth, there would be more than enough resources (coupled with todays technology) that can provide for everyone and take care of everyone regardless of nationality, religion, race and class.
Imagine how much money they spent on WW2. now if they put that energy and the money to actually house everyone, feed everyone, develop technology to improve our agriculture and other industries, to build hospitals every where and schools all over the world; they could have done that easily and wipeout the slums. how stupid can one be. Imagine if all the scientists involved in the "manhattan project" instead of building machines that wold kill us, rather focused on actually bridging the differences between countries and creating methods to share ideas and resources between countries and focused their energy on making food and other basic needs available to everyone without a price tag. What a wonderful world could we have now if they did that.
Hi stewie.
Interesting and idealistic thoughts.
In an ideal world, countries would not restrict the flow of food to feed the millions who are hungry.
Historically, rich countries spend billions of dollars subsidizing their agricultural sector, leading to massive overproduction and dumping surpluses on global markets. US and European subsidies for agriculture are contributing to rapidly rising food prices and the destruction of small-scale farming in poorer countries who find it impossible to compete and prosper.
Millions of people in the poorer countries are going hungry not because of the scarcity of food in the world but because they cannot afford to buy the food due to the economic policies of rich exporting countries like the US and Europe. Many other elements like the distribution of food in war-torn areas of Africa, drought and other extreme climate conditions also add to the causes of hunger.
Even the United Nations is alarmed about an emerging trend of rich countries and big corporations who buy vast stretches of land in Africa for a small price depriving the use of this land to the people who need them most. They are using new technoligies like genetically modified foods, primarily interested in maximum future yeild and highest profit for them. The UN is trying work out policies to halt this trend.
Read about feeding the world- fact versus fiction from theGreenpeace link.
Exactly! most of the people are deprived of basic needs not because we do not have the resources, but because their purchasing power does not allow it to. So there is something inherently wrong in the moneytary system which we follow today all over the world.
UN probably can't stand a chance against the fat corporations and their lobbied relative GOvts. The whole system is inherently corrupt because it promotes self interest and profits. It totally ignores the human well being, environment and sustainable earth for generations come.
thanks for the link.
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