{"id":9675,"date":"2021-04-28T14:59:21","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T13:59:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fei-online.com\/?p=9675"},"modified":"2021-05-05T15:03:49","modified_gmt":"2021-05-05T14:03:49","slug":"report-warns-global-food-system-is-primary-driver-of-biodiversity-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fei-online.com\/report-warns-global-food-system-is-primary-driver-of-biodiversity-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"Report warns global food system is primary driver of biodiversity loss"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='av_section_1'  class='avia-section main_color avia-section-default avia-no-border-styling  avia-bg-style-scroll  avia-builder-el-0  avia-builder-el-no-sibling   container_wrap fullsize' style=' '  ><div class='container' ><main  role=\"main\" itemprop=\"mainContentOfPage\"  class='template-page content  av-content-full alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-9675'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-1  el_before_av_three_fifth  avia-builder-el-first  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><div id=\"ads-slider-28\" class=\"custom-slider ads-slider-423084079 ads-slider\"><ul><li><!--Begin ClixTrac.com Banner Code -->\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/clixtrac.com\/goto\/?308404\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/clixtrac.com\/banner\/308404.jpg\" alt=\"Free from food\" title=\"Free from food\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a>\r\n<!--End ClixTrac.com Banner Code --><\/li><li><!--Begin ClixTrac.com Banner Code -->\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/clixtrac.com\/banner\/click.php?banner=302805\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/clixtrac.com\/banner\/302805.jpg\" alt=\"LUBRIPLATE\" title=\"LUBRIPLATE\" border=\"0\" width=\"120\" height=\"600\" \/><\/a>\r\n<!--End ClixTrac.com Banner Code --><\/li><li><div style=\"margin-left: auto; 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'><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><header class=\"entry-content-header\"><h1 class=\"post-title entry-title\" itemprop=\"headline\">Report warns global food system is primary driver of biodiversity loss<\/h1><span class=\"post-meta-infos\">\/ <span class=\"blog-categories minor-meta\">in <a href=\"https:\/\/fei-online.com\/category\/editors-picks\/\" rel=\"tag\">Editors' Picks<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/fei-online.com\/category\/featured-articles\/\" rel=\"tag\">Featured Articles<\/a> <\/span><\/span><\/header>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p><strong>Chatham House research paper calls for urgent reform of food systems<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Food System Impacts on Biodiversity Loss, the new Chatham House report, supported by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and Compassion in World Farming, describes three actions needed for food system transformation in support of biodiversity, and sets out recommendations to embed food system reform in high level political events over the coming UN \u2018Super Year\u2019 for Nature.<\/p>\n<p>Our global food system is the primary driver of biodiversity loss, with agriculture alone being the identified threat to 24,000 of the 28,000 (86%) species at risk of extinction. The global rate of species extinction today is higher than the average rate over the past 10 million years.<\/p>\n<p>Commenting on the report, Philip Lymbery, Global Chief Executive at Compassion in World Farming, said: \u201cAt a time when so much of the world continues to battle the Covid-19 pandemic, it\u2019s never been more obvious that the well-being of people and animals, wild and farmed, are intertwined.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs this new report shows, the future of humanity depends on us living in harmony with nature. We need to work with nature, not against her. Never has it been so timely for us to realise that protecting people means protecting animals too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe future of farming must be nature-friendly and regenerative, and our diets must become more plant-based, healthy and sustainable. Without ending factory farming, we are in danger of having no future at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Susan Gardner, Director of UNEP\u2019s Ecosystems Division, said: \u201cOur current food system is a double edged sword \u2013 shaped by decades of the \u201ccheaper food\u201d paradigm, aimed at producing more food, quickly and cheaply without taking into account the hidden costs to biodiversity and its life-supporting services \u2013 and to our own health. Reforming the way we produce and consume food is an urgent priority \u2013 we need to change global dietary patterns, protect and set aside land for nature and farm in a more nature-friendly and biodiversity-supporting way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The \u201ccheaper food paradigm\u201d, with a goal of producing more food at lower costs through increasing inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, energy, land and water leads to a vicious cycle: the lower cost of food production creates a bigger demand for food that must also be produced at a lower cost through more intensification and further land clearance.<\/p>\n<p>The impacts of producing more food at a lower cost are not limited to biodiversity loss. The global food system is a major driver of climate change, accounting for around 30% of total human-produced emissions.<\/p>\n<p>Professor Tim Benton, Research Director, Emerging Risks; Director, Energy, Environment and Resources Programme at Chatham House, said: \u201cThe biggest threats to biodiversity arise from exploitative land use:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>converting natural habitats to agriculture and farming land intensively<\/li>\n<li>and these are driven by the economic demand for producing ever more calorie-rich, but nutritionally poor, food from fewer and fewer commodities grown at scale.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These commodities underpin a wasteful food system that fails to nourish us and undermines biodiversity and drives climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to the new report, a reform of food systems is a matter of urgency and should focus on three interdependent actions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Firstly, global dietary patterns need to move towards more plantheavy diets, mainly due to the disproportionate impact of animal agriculture on biodiversity, land use and the environment. Such a shift, coupled with the reduction of global food waste, would reduce demand and the pressure on the environment and land, benefit the health of populations around the world, and help reduce the risk of pandemics.<\/li>\n<li>Secondly, more land needs to be protected and set aside for nature. The greatest gains for biodiversity will occur when we preserve or restore whole ecosystems. Therefore, we need to avoid converting land for agriculture. Human dietary shifts are essential in order to preserve existing native ecosystems and restore those that have been removed or degraded.<\/li>\n<li>Thirdly, we need to farm in a more nature-friendly, biodiversitysupporting way, limiting the use of inputs and replacing monoculture with polyculture farming practices.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Dietary change is necessary to enable land to be returned to nature, and to allow widespread adoption of nature-friendly farming without increasing the pressure to convert natural land to agriculture. The more the first action is taken up in the form of dietary change, the more scope there is for the second and third actions.<\/p>\n<p>The report calls on policy makers to take a system-wide approach to account for the impacts of food systems, develop global guidance for change, and translate this to national targets.<\/p>\n<p>The findings and recommendations of the new Chatham House report were presented February 3 during an online event which included speakers from UNEP, Chatham House and Compassion in World Farming, as well as Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE, Founder \u2013 the Jane Goodall Institute &amp; UN Messenger of Peace. An inspiring panel discussion followed with Louise Mabulo, a chef, environmentalist and UN\u2019s Young Champion of the Earth from the Philippines, and Lana Weidgenant, Vice-Chair of Shifting to Sustainable Consumption Patterns at the UN Food Systems Summit and Deputy Director of Zero Hour International.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n<div   class='hr hr-default   avia-builder-el-7  el_after_av_textblock  el_before_av_textblock '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div><br \/>\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p>Read the report, Food System Impacts on Biodiversity Loss:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.unep.org\/resources\/publication\/food-systemimpacts-biodiversity-loss\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">www.unep.org\/resources\/publication\/food-systemimpacts-biodiversity-loss<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n<div  class='av-social-sharing-box  avia-builder-el-9  el_after_av_textblock  avia-builder-el-last  av-social-sharing-box-minimal '><div class='av-share-box'><h5 class='av-share-link-description av-no-toc '>Share this<\/h5><ul class='av-share-box-list noLightbox'><li class='av-share-link av-social-link-facebook' ><a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Share on Facebook\" href='https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/fei-online.com\/report-warns-global-food-system-is-primary-driver-of-biodiversity-loss\/&#038;t=Report%20warns%20global%20food%20system%20is%20primary%20driver%20of%20biodiversity%20loss' aria-hidden='false' data-av_icon='\ue8f3' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello' title='' data-avia-related-tooltip='Share on Facebook' rel=\"noopener\"><span class='avia_hidden_link_text'>Share on Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class='av-share-link av-social-link-twitter' ><a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Share on Twitter\" href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=Report%20warns%20global%20food%20system%20is%20primary%20driver%20of%20biodiversity%20loss&#038;url=https:\/\/fei-online.com\/?p=9675' aria-hidden='false' data-av_icon='\ue8f1' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello' title='' data-avia-related-tooltip='Share on Twitter' rel=\"noopener\"><span class='avia_hidden_link_text'>Share on Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class='av-share-link av-social-link-whatsapp' ><a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Share on WhatsApp\" href='https:\/\/api.whatsapp.com\/send?text=https:\/\/fei-online.com\/report-warns-global-food-system-is-primary-driver-of-biodiversity-loss\/' aria-hidden='false' data-av_icon='\uf232' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello' title='' data-avia-related-tooltip='Share on WhatsApp' rel=\"noopener\"><span class='avia_hidden_link_text'>Share on WhatsApp<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class='av-share-link av-social-link-linkedin' ><a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Share on LinkedIn\" href='https:\/\/linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&#038;title=Report%20warns%20global%20food%20system%20is%20primary%20driver%20of%20biodiversity%20loss&#038;url=https:\/\/fei-online.com\/report-warns-global-food-system-is-primary-driver-of-biodiversity-loss\/' aria-hidden='false' data-av_icon='\ue8fc' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello' title='' data-avia-related-tooltip='Share on LinkedIn' rel=\"noopener\"><span class='avia_hidden_link_text'>Share on LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class='av-share-link av-social-link-mail' ><a  aria-label=\"Share by Mail\" href='mailto:?subject=Report%20warns%20global%20food%20system%20is%20primary%20driver%20of%20biodiversity%20loss&#038;body=https:\/\/fei-online.com\/report-warns-global-food-system-is-primary-driver-of-biodiversity-loss\/' aria-hidden='false' data-av_icon='\ue805' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello' title='' data-avia-related-tooltip='Share by Mail'><span class='avia_hidden_link_text'>Share by Mail<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/p><\/div><div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-10  el_after_av_three_fifth  avia-builder-el-last  \" style='border-radius:0px; 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