Food, alongside water, is our most fundamental human need as it is essential to our health and survival. For most of us, particularly in the UK, food security is something we haven’t had to worry about in over a generation, but it is really important that we don’t take it for granted. 

How does this affect me?

Food availability: climate change is putting increasing pressure on our ability to grow and distribute food all around the world. The more we warm the planet the more likely it is that many of our favourite foods will no longer be available.

Food prices: due to supply and demand factors, if less food is being produced that will drive prices up, contributing further to the cost of living.

How does climate change impact food availability and prices?

Climate change can, and already is, affecting food security in a multitude of ways, impacting  both availability and quality. The main concerns are:

Drought: higher temperatures and lower rainfall are causing more intense droughts in many parts of the world (from China, to Europe and America). The lack of water in many regions is severely impacting crop yields and pushing up food prices. ​

Flooding: heavier rainfall is causing more intense flooding in many parts of the world, having significant impacts on food production.

Wildfires: have the potential to completely wipe out the crops/livestock in affected areas. Due to hotter/dryer conditions an increasing number of places are being impacted.

​Other extreme weather events: more intense storms with higher wind speeds and heavier rainfall also have the potential to damage crops or kill livestock.

Biodiversity loss: much of our food comes directly from nature (e.g. the fish caught at sea). The changing conditions around the world are severely impacting wildlife and ecosystems meaning the benefits that nature provides (often for free) is being diminished. ​

Seasonal changes: in the UK we are already starting to see longer summers with shorter spring, autumn and winter. Plants blooming too early, when the risk of frost is still high, can cause damage to them, while milder winters in general can result in growing numbers of pests (as more are likely to survive in milder conditions).  ​

Rising sea levels: river deltas and low lying land by the sea are often fertile regions for food production. Rising sea levels are starting to impact these areas through coastal flooding and higher salinity which can damage crops.   ​

War/conflict: for obvious reasons has huge potential to impact food production and distribution (as seen with Ukraine). Climate change exacerbates existing issues, increasing the probability of conflict in many areas. ​

Damage to infrastructure: many of the issues listed above can cause damage to infrastructure and impact our ability to distribute food effectively. Given the amount we import, impacts on global supply chains from climate change could have a big impact on the availability and price of food in the UK. ​

Labour productivity & availability: many of the factors listed above as well as hotter working conditions can impact people’s productivity and their ability to get to work. This is particularly true in the agricultural sector where, globally millions of people work outside a lot of the time. ​

In November 2021, major flooding in British Columbia, Canada, forced the closure of Highway 1 (the only major road connecting many communities to their food sources). This led to widespread shortages across the province, reiterating that the effects of climate change on food security are not just being felt in developing countries. ​

Reasons for HOPE

We should stress that, unfortunately, global temperature rise is overwhelmingly bad news for food production (despite some areas closer to the poles opening up to agriculture and prolonged growing seasons in some regions). The best thing we can do is to stabilise global temperatures as quickly as possible. However, there are reasons for hope:

We can move rapidly away from burning fossil fuels (i.e. stabilising global temperatures is possible… we have most of the solutions we need).

There is a lot of scope for efficiency in the food system:
- Switching the type of food we grow can feed many more people using fewer resources in many cases
- We produce far more food than we need currently and a huge amount is wasted  

Technology is progressing rapidly in agriculture and we will be able to adapt to some of the impacts of climate change (e.g. drought resistant crops and indoor farming)

Ecosystems are surprisingly resilient and nature has an amazing ability to bounce back if we give it the space it needs ​

To conclude
It is impossible to have a strong economy if we are unable to feed the workforce that powers it. For this simple reason we believe addressing climate change is more important than "economic growth" and stabilising global temperatures has to be a priority over short-term economic goals. 

Burning fewer fossil fuels will lead to lower concentrations of GHGs in the atmosphere, leading to less warming, meaning more stable conditions for food production and distribution, helping ensure more availability and lower food prices for all of us. The quicker we can reasonably transition, the better.

​Further reading & resources
Impact of climate change and biodiversity loss on food security

Concrete examples of how climate change is already impacting food availability and prices:
- India’s drought causes export ban and pushes up global wheat prices
- Olive oil prices increase due to Spanish heatwaves