US Climate and Health Alliance

Importance of food-demand management for climate mitigation

Abstract

Recent studies show that current trends in yield improvement will not be sufficient to meet projected global food demand in 2050, and suggest that a further expansion of agricultural area will be required. However, agriculture is the main driver of losses of biodiversity and a major contributor to climate change and pollution, and so further expansion is undesirable. The usual proposed alternative—intensification with increased resource use—also has negative effects. It is therefore imperative to find ways to achieve global food security without expanding crop or pastureland and without increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Resource Type
Peer-reviewed article
Authors
Bojana Bajzelj Keith Richards Julian Allwood Pete Smith John Dennis Elizabeth Curmi Christopher Gilligan
Resource URL
http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v4/n10/full/nclimate2353.html
Publication
Nature Climate Change
Volume
4
Pages
924-929
Date
Aug 31, 2014
DOI
10.1038/NCLIMATE2353
Organization Type
Academic
Health and Human Impact
Food security
Climate and Environmental Impacts
Biodiversity Food/crops
Emission Sources
Agriculture/forestry Land use Waste
Solutions
Land use Sustainable agriculture/local food systems

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