Address 'Slow-Onset' Impacts of Climate Changes on Food Production, Says FAO

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warns that developing counties are expected to be hit by potentially catastrophic impacts of food production from slow-onset climate changes. Hence, there is need to prepare for these anticipated impacts.

"Currently the world is focused on dealing with shorter-term climate impacts caused mainly by extreme weather events," said Alexander Müller, FAO Assistant-Director General for Natural Resources. "This is absolutely necessary but 'slow-onset' impacts are expected to bring deeper changes that challenge the ecosystem services needed for agriculture, with potentially disastrous impacts on food security during the period from 2050 to 2100. Coping with long-term changes after the fact doesn't make much sense. We must already today support agriculture in the developing world to become more resilient," he said.

FAO forwards some recommendations on what governments could consider in climate change negotiations. These include: using food security as an indicator of vulnerability to climate change and as a socio-economic safeguard for mitigation measures; and managing long-term risks of climate change.

The FAO media release is at  http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/54337/icode/