An online, interactive map showing how climate change may affect food production through to the 2080s has been launched during the climate conference (COP21) in Paris.
The Food Insecurity and Climate Change map, which has been produced by the Met Office and the UN World Food Programme (WFP), shows how to help make people less vulnerable to food insecurity while also highlighting how a failure to adapt could push millions of people deeper into hunger and malnutrition.
“Our research shows how climate change can affect the scale and geography of food insecurity, and how adaptation and mitigation can address the challenges of future food insecurity,” said the Met Office’s climate security science manager, Kirsty Lewis.
“Climate disasters affect hungry and vulnerable people disproportionately. They increase hunger by destroying land, livestock, crops and food supplies, and make it harder for people to access markets and food networks. Even a minor weather event can quickly escalate into a food crisis.”
WFP executive director, Ertharin Cousin, added: “The next generation can enjoy greater global food security than we do today but only if leaders get it right in Paris.”