The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) warned on
Wednesday in Bali, Indonesia, that if the international community
does not act immediately, climate change will increase hunger and
malnutrition.
Addressing the ongoing UN climate change conference in Bali,
Jacques Diouf, director-general of FAO, said "more frequent and
more intense extreme weather events will have adverse immediate
impacts on food availability, food accessibility, food utilization
and the stability of food systems."
Speaking on behalf of the Rome-based FAO, the International Fund
for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the World Food Program
(WFP), he said: "FAO, IFAD and WFP wish to register their deepest
concern about the impacts of climate change on both rural and urban
development, and especially on our fight against hunger and
poverty."
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He said vulnerable people and food systems will be particularly
affected by climate change.
To reduce risk and strength the resilience of rural people,
immediate action to mitigate and adapt to climate change is
essential, he noted.
He added: "adapting to climate change also includes redoubling
our efforts to ensure that a growing and more urban world
population has access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to
meet their dietary needs for an active and healthy life."
Poor people must be part of the solution, he noted, adding that
their (The poorest people) efforts in sustainably managing their
land, water and other nature resources should be rewarded, so that
they benefit more than they do now from carbon trading schemes.
He stressed that sustainable forest management offers
opportunities for immediate climate change mitigation and
adaptation. Deforestation is responsible for an estimated 17
percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
"Sustainable forest management approaches, tools and
partnerships allow us to take comprehensive, rapid and effective
action in support of this goal (reduce deforestation and possibly
also forest degradation), and at the same time to benefit the rural
poor, capture environmental co-benefits and reinforce adaptation
activities," he said.
He underlined that integrated strategies and collaborative
approaches are required to overcome the multiple treats of climate
change.
"Effective implementation of strategies will require increased
investment in agricultural development and natural resources
management at local and national levels by governments, the private
sector, civil society and development agencies," he said.
FAO's 2006 State of Food Insecurity Report estimated that
about854 million people worldwide suffer from hunger, of whom more
than820 million live in developing countries. Climate change is
likely not only to put an additional burden on the already food
insecure, but also to increase the vulnerability of poor people
everywhere, the report said.
(Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2007)
