The World Environment Day (WED) is one of the most remarkable day in the planet’s calendar as the event is observed worldwide to spread greater awareness on the conservation and appropriate use of planetary vital resources to maintain ecological balance and to advocate for clean and sustainable development models and smarter consumer behaviors. This year, the UNEP has chosen “Seven billion dreams- one planet- consume with care” as the theme for WED globally. The theme is chosen on the premises of sustainable production and consumption to address the issues of surging population growth, food waste, poverty and deteriorating natural environments and resource scarcities. According to the FAO, around 795 million people or one in nine people are undernourished globally, out of which, vast majority of the world’s poor (780 million) lives in the developing countries (State of food insecurity of the world, 2015). Despite this high prevalence of poverty, UNEP estimates that 1.3 billion tons of food or one-third of food produced is wasted ever year; this roughly translates to 1.4 billion hectares of land being used to produce the total amount of food that is lost and wasted every year. . FAO estimates that per capita food waste by consumers in advanced countries is 95-115 kg/year, while this figure in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia is only 6-11 kg/year. The Waste Resources and Action Programme, highlighting the urgent need to address the growing food waste, particularly in the developed world, has calculated that uneaten food costs the world up to $400 billion annually.
This takes us to two conclusions. First, if the amount of $400 billion or the cost of global food wastes is transferred to the world’s poor, it would alleviate some 700 million out of extreme poverty and save millions from hunger and malnutrition. Secondly, if food waste were to be eliminated, the current global food production would be sufficient to feed its 7.3 billion populations. The challenges, therefore, lie in finding ways to improve food distribution, reducing waste, addressing inequality and enhancing food accessibility to the world’s poor. And just as the bottom billion people are finding hard to meet life’s basic requirements, where one out of six children in the developing countries are underweight and nearly 3.1 million children die every year due to poor nutrition; an estimated 1.5 billion people are overweight and obese which is posing significant threat on their health, productivity and longevity.
Just two years back, the UNEP has chosen “Think.Eat.Save. Reduce Your Foodprint” as the theme for the WED 2013. The campaign was launched to reduce food waste and save resources as producing food that is not consumed but wasted leads to loss of economic value of the food produced in addition to unnecessary carbon emissions. This year ‘consume with care’ slogan seeks to reinforce earlier campaigns to generate lesser garbage, junks and reduce food waste. The emphasis on the choices and habits of food consumption and production patterns shows that modern day consumerism and glut production is posing a tangible threat on the planet’s sustainability. Common sense tells us that exploiting natural resources at the rate higher than the nature’s capacity to regenerate and restore natural environment to its original state will land us into trouble. However, our consumption and production patterns for the past few decades indicates that humanity is running out of commonsense just as the planet is running out of its resources.
According to UNEP, the global population would reach 9.6 billion by 2050 and if the current consumption and production pattern continues, humanity may require three planets to sustain our ways of living and consumption. The growing population accompanied by rising income and higher caloric intake would significantly increase food demand over the coming decades. FAO projections (2009) shows that global food production need to increase by 70 percent between now and 2050 to feed its 9 billion plus populations. This projection implies that annual cereal production would have to grow by nearly one billion tones and meat production by over 200 million tones. The high growth projection poses credible challenge as the world have to produce more food and fibre with less land and water. Climate change could also make the matter worse as it could reduce food productivity by as much as 25 percent according to the World Bank.
The pertinent question is therefore, how to feed the growing world populations while also protecting the natural environment and supporting the communities that depends on these fragile ecosystems? The UNFCCC states that climate change will make natural disasters more frequent and intense, land and water more scarce and difficult to access, and increases in productivity even harder to achieve. The Fifth Assessment Report (2014) of the IPCC observed that climate change is already having a negative impact on agriculture, affecting major crops, livestock production and fisheries. Empirical evidence shows that exposure to natural disasters and extreme weather events, exacerbated by climate change, is hampering efforts to combat poverty and hunger in many developing countries. The responses to these challenges will therefore come from promoting the right kind of growth and not just random growth.
Choosing the right kind of growth, specific to the region or country, is important because not all types of growth are effective in reducing hunger and malnutrition. Poor, illiterate and unskilled people cannot participate and benefit in growth processes that are capital intensive or generate employment only for the educated and skilled workers. For instance, economic growth generated by capital-intensive sectors, such as oil and minerals, is likely to have minimal impacts on the lives and welfare of the poor. However, development of small-scale industries or advancement in agricultural sectors could have significant effects in reducing poverty in the developing countries. Again, whether economic growth are based on high or low carbon, resource efficiency or not, shall also determine the health of the environment, emission issues and humanity responses to climate change.
The goals for food security and nutrition targets requires that food is available, accessible and of sufficient quantity and quality to ensure good nutritional outcomes. Food production, however, is emissions intensive as it converts lands that store carbon and preserve ecosystems into pasture or crop land. The food industry and supply chain accounts for around 30 percent of the global energy consumption and contributes around 22 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions. As global demand for food, fodder and bio energy crops increases, many agricultural systems are depleting soil fertility, biodiversity and water resources. Therefore, promoting sustainable production and consumption lifestyles will not only reduce waste but will also save resources and reduce emissions levels.
The message for this year’s world environment day is therefore, to shift our consumption patterns towards goods and services that are clean, hygiene and healthy, low on carbon and resource efficient. Smarter consumer choices also mean buying only what one needs and not succumbing to dubious commercials. It is also about reusing and recycling whenever possible and generating lesser trash and garbage.
“Conserve to Sustain”
(N JANBEMO HUMTSOE)
Director, Green Foundation &
Climate Reality Leader.
