What Should the U.S. Do to More Effectively Compete With China in Africa?

Published on Aug 8, 2019
In this special edition of the China in Africa podcast, Eric & Cobus join Judd Devermont, Africa Director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Yun Sun, a Non-Resident Fellow at The Brookings Institution, to discuss the future of U.S. foreign policy in Africa and how Washington can more effectively compete with China’s growing influence on the continent.

This week’s show was recorded at the CSIS studio in Washington and is a joint production with the Into Africa podcast, hosted by Judd and produced by CSIS.

How our food is grown and consumed is making climate change worse. What can we do?

Published on Aug 8, 2019
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is warning of a devastating global feedback loop around how humans produce and consume food. A new report urges immediate action on agricultural practices that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, which exacerbate climate change and, in turn, make soil less productive. William Brangham talks to the World Resources Institute’s Janet Ranganathan.

Food-matters,

New IPCC Report Warns of Vicious Cycle Between Soil Degradation and Climate Change

Published on Aug 8, 2019
Greenpeace’s Diana Ruiz discusses the new IPCC Climate report, “Climate Change and Land,” which issues a dire warning about how climate change and destructive land use reinforce each other, leading to serious threats for human survival.

Food-matters,

Flooded farms: Non-stop rain creates ‘agricultural disaster’ in Alberta

Published on Aug 8, 2019
Following a summer of heavy rain and flooding, Lac Ste. Anne County is declaring a state of agricultural disaster. Meet an Alberta farmer who’s already lost one-third of this year’s crop.

Food-matters,

Eat less meat: Climate report urges change to world food system

Published on Aug 8, 2019
A new report by the International Panel on Climate Change says the global food system is taking too high a toll on the land. The solution? Change the way we eat.

Food-matters,

 

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment – 2005

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment assessed the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being. From 2001 to 2005, the MA involved the work of more than 1,360 experts worldwide. Their findings provide a state-of-the-art scientific appraisal of the condition and trends in the world’s ecosystems and the services they provide, as well as the scientific basis for action to conserve and use them sustainably.

Food-matters,

 

U.N. Scientists Warn Rapid Global Warming Threatens Food Supply

Aug 08, 2019

The United Nations’ top panel of climate scientists is warning that humans are consuming land and water resources at an unprecedented rate, with the climate crisis and biodiversity loss already threatening the food supply of hundreds of millions of people. In a new report out today, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that without dramatic action, extreme weather and rising temperatures will turn even more fertile land into desert, shrinking the global food supply even as the world’s population rises to more than 7.5 billion people. This is climate scientist and IPCC co-chair Valérie Masson-Delmotte.

Valérie Masson-Delmotte: “We humans affect more than 70% of ice-free land. A quarter of this land is degraded. The way we produce food and what we eat contributes to loss of natural ecosystems and declining biodiversity. When land is degraded, it reduces the soil’s ability to take up carbon, and this exacerbates climate change. In turn, climate change exacerbates land degradation in many different ways. Today, 500 million people live in areas that experience desertification.”

The IPCC recommends dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, along with more efficient farming methods and a shift in diets away from dairy and meat — which produce vast amounts of methane and carbon dioxide while consuming large amounts of land.

Food-matters,

 

BBC World Service – The Documentary Podcast, When Africa meets China

Everyone knows how China is changing Africa but what is less well known is how Africa is changing China. Linda Yueh uncovers the growing number of African’s who are moving to work and live in China. She investigates problems some African’s are having obtaining Chinese visas, and instances of perceived racism. She also hears success stories of African businessman now employing local Chinese workers and reasons why Africans prefer China over western countries to make their life. But are the Chinese willing to accept living side by side with a new African community keen to explore opportunities in their homeland?

Scope of the Challenge and Menu of Possible Solutions (Synthesis) | WRI

A Recipe for Change

The challenge of creating a sustainable food future involves balancing many competing needs. By 2050, the world must feed many more people, more nutritiously, and ensure that agriculture contributes to poverty reduction through inclusive economic and social development, all while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, loss of habitat, freshwater depletion and pollution, and other environmental impacts of farming. Pursuing any one of these goals to the exclusion of the others will likely result in failure to achieve any of them.

We quantify the core of the challenge in terms of the need to close three “gaps”: in food production, agricultural land area, and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation. To measure the size of these gaps, we use a new model, GlobAgri-WRR, developed in a partnership between Le Centre de coopération nternationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD), L’Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA), World Resources Institute (WRI), and Princeton University (Box 1).

…(read more).

Food-matters,

 

Climate Change and Land — IPCC

Climate Change and Land
An IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems

Report
The IPCC approved and accepted Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems at its 50th Session held on 2 – 7 August 2019. The approved Summary for Policymakers (SPM) was presented at a press conference on 8 August 2019.

Background
At its 43rd Session (Nairobi, Kenya, 11 – 13 April 2016), the IPCC Panel decided to prepare a special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems.

Experts met on 13 – 17 February 2017 in Dublin, Ireland to prepare a draft outline for the report.

At its 45th Session (Guadalajara, Mexico, 28 – 31 March 2017), the Panel approved the outline for Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems.

The Special Report was developed under the joint scientific leadership of Working Groups I, II, III in cooperation with the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, and supported by the Working Group III Technical Support Unit.

See: Report Chapters – download access

• Media Advisory – interviews
• Media advisory – arrangements for broadcasters
• Broll from the 50th Session of the IPCC
• Information on press conference speakers
• List of author teams
• Agreed outline
• Factsheet

At its 43rd Session (Nairobi, Kenya, 11 – 13 April 2016), the IPCC Panel decided to prepare a special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems.

Experts met on 13 – 17 February 2017 in Dublin, Ireland to prepare a draft outline for the report.

At its 45th Session (Guadalajara, Mexico, 28 – 31 March 2017), the Panel approved the outline for Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems.

The Special Report will be developed under the joint scientific leadership of Working Groups I, II, III and the Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, and supported by the WG III TSU.

…(read more).

See related:

• Plant-based diet can fight climate change – UN – BBC News
• Climate change: German MPs want higher meat tax – BBC News
• Creating a Sustainable Food Future | World Resources Institute

See IPCC YouTube Channel

Access to all IPCC Reports.

Food-matters,