The current approach to food, nutrition, agriculture, and the environment is unsustainable and must change. There is no time to waste, say the 130 national academies of science and medicine across the world that compose the InterAcademy Partnership.
With COP24 starting next week 130 national academies of science and medicine have united in a new report, Opportunities for future research and innovation on food and nutrition security and agriculture: The InterAcademy Partnership’s global perspective, to urge policy-makers to take immediate action on climate change to improve the sustainability of global food systems.
The report contains a number of changes to be made, including climate-smart food systems, incentives for consumers to change their diets, innovative foods and collaboration between natural science and social science.
“It is not only the environment that is at stake, but health, nutrition, trade, jobs and the economy. Agriculture and consumer choices are major factors driving disastrous climate change. We need a robust and ambitious policy response to address the climate impacts of agriculture and consumer choices – and scientists have a major role to play”, said Professor Joachim von Braun, Co-Chair of the IAP project on Food and Nutrition Security and Agriculture, President of the Pontifical Academy of Science, and Director of the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn.