Climate change and species decline: Distinct sources of European consumer concern supporting more sustainable diets

Climate change is threatening future global food and nutrition security. Limiting the increase in global temperature to 1·5 °C set out in The Paris Agreement (2015) while achieving nutrient security means overhauling the current food system to create one that can deliver healthy and sustainable diets. To attain this, it is critical to understand the implications for nutrition of actions to mitigate climate change as well as the impacts of climate change on food production and the nutrient composition of foods. It is widely recognised that livestock production has a much greater environmental burden than crop production, and therefore advice is to reduce meat consumption. This has triggered concern in some sectors about a lack of protein in diets, which hence is driving efforts to find protein replacements. However, in most high- and middle-income countries, protein intakes far exceed dietary requirements and it would even if all meat were removed from diets. Reduction in micronutrients should be given more attention when reducing meat. Simply eating less meat does not guarantee healthier or more sustainable diets. Climate change will also affect the type, amount and nutrient quality of food that can be produced. Studies have shown that increased temperature and elevated CO2 levels can reduce the nutrient density of some staple crops, which is of particular concern in low-income countries. Nutrition from a climate change perspective means considering the potential consequences of any climate action on food and nutrition security. In this paper, we discuss these issues from an interdisciplinary perspective.

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Proceedings of a Workshop on Characterizing and Defining the Social and Economic Domains of Sustainable Diets

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12104163 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (10) ◽

pp. 4163

Author(s):

Kevin Comerford ◽

Channing Arndt ◽

Adam Drewnowski ◽

Polly Ericksen ◽

Tim Griffin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Food Systems ◽

Research Literature ◽

Environmental Cost ◽

Systems Science ◽

Sustainable Food ◽

Sustainable Diets ◽

Food And Agriculture ◽

Global Challenges ◽

The Social

Global challenges associated with a growing demand for food in the face of finite natural resources and climate change have prompted concerns about the sustainability of our current food systems. As formulated by the Food and Agriculture Organization, the four principal domains of sustainable diets are health, economics, society, and the environment. While emphasizing the environmental cost and health impacts of current diets, the research literature has virtually ignored the vital economic and social aspects of sustainability. Without these components, critical inputs for decision-making about global challenges related to climate change and a growing demand for food are missing. National Dairy Council convened experts in sociology, economics, human nutrition, food systems science, food security, environmental health, and sustainable agriculture for a one-day workshop to define the social and economic domains of sustainability in service of better characterizing food-based dietary guidance that is both healthy and sustainable. The consensus recommendations were to (1) select social and economic indicators to complement the existing environmental and health ones, (2) better define appropriate concepts, terms, and measures to foster discussion across scientific disciplines, (3) reframe the focus on sustainable diets towards the goal of “achieving healthy dietary patterns from sustainable food systems”, and (4) complement the four domains, and incorporate the notions of geography, time, and cross-cutting considerations into sustainability frameworks. This publication summarizes the presentations, discussions, and findings from the 2019 workshop, and aims to catalyze further action to advance sustainability research and practice in the context of food-based dietary guidance and the Sustainable Development Goals.

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Testing the Role of Climate Change in Species Decline: Is the Eastern Quoll a Victim of a Change in the Weather?

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0129420 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. e0129420 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Bronwyn A. Fancourt ◽

Brooke L. Bateman ◽

Jeremy VanDerWal ◽

Stewart C. Nicol ◽

Clare E. Hawkins ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Species Decline

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Sustainable diets & medicinal aromatic plants in greece: Perspectives towards climate change

Food Chemistry ◽

10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.131767 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 131767

Author(s):

Tomou Ekaterina-Michaela ◽

Skaltsa Helen ◽

Economou Garyfalia ◽

Trichopoulou Antonia

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Aromatic Plants ◽

Sustainable Diets

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Sustainable diets as common mitigation initiatives for climate change and obesity

Environnement Risques Santé ◽

10.1684/ers.2020.1486 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 19 (6) ◽

pp. 434-445

Author(s):

Estelle Wonta ◽

David Beran

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sustainable Diets

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The New Zealand Beef and Sheep Sector’s Contribution to Biodiversity and Carbon Sequestration

Proceedings ◽

10.3390/proceedings2019008048 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 48

Author(s):

David A. Norton ◽

Hannah L. Buckley ◽

Bradley S. Case ◽

Jennifer L. Pannell

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

New Zealand ◽

Carbon Sequestration ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Food Production ◽

Human Nutrition ◽

Sustainable Diets ◽

Background Climate

Background: Climate change and the environmental impact of food production is a key modernchallenge, becoming part of the wider human nutrition discussion in regard to sustainable diets [...]

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Climate change mitigation in food systems: the environmental and health impacts of shifting towards sustainable diets, a systematic review protocol

Wellcome Open Research ◽

10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15618.1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

pp. 205 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Stephanie Jarmul ◽

Zara Liew ◽

Andrew Haines ◽

Pauline Scheelbeek

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Systematic Review ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Water Use ◽

Food Systems ◽

Climate Change Mitigation ◽

Sustainable Diets ◽

Change Mitigation

Food systems contribute greatly to global climate change due to their substantial contributions to greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and resource allocation. In addition, current food systems fail to deliver healthy and sustainable foods for all, with obesity as well as undernourishment remaining a pertinent global issue. Mounting pressures such as population growth and urbanisation urge rapid and transformational adaptations in food systems to sustainably feed a growing population. Sustainable diets have been promoted as a potential climate change mitigation strategy, and are characterized by high plant based foods and reduced animal-sourced and processed foods. While the evidence base on the potential health and environmental impacts of shifts towards sustainable diets has been growing rapidly over the past decade, there has been no recent synthesis of the evidence surrounding the health and climate mitigation benefits of sustainable consumption patterns. This systematic review will synthesize the evidence of both empirical and modelling studies assessing the direct health outcomes (such as all-cause mortality and body mass index) as well as environmental impacts (greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use etc.) of shifts towards sustainable diets. Eight literature databases will be searched to identify studies published between 1999-2019 that report both health and environmental outcomes of sustainable diets. Evidence will be mapped and subsequently analysed based on the comparability of results and reported outcomes.

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Mechanisms of climate-change-induced species decline: spatial, temporal and long-term variation in the diet of an endangered marsupial carnivore, the eastern quoll

Wildlife Research ◽

10.1071/wr18063 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 45 (8) ◽

pp. 737 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Bronwyn A. Fancourt ◽

Clare E. Hawkins ◽

Stewart C. Nicol

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Niche Breadth ◽

Population Decline ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Early Spring ◽

Food Sources ◽

Dietary Composition ◽

Insect Larvae ◽

Species Decline ◽

Dietary Niche

Context Climate change is having significant impacts on species worldwide. The endangered eastern quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus) has recently undergone rapid and severe population decline, with no sign of recovery. Spatially and temporally-explicit weather modelling suggests a prolonged period of unfavourable weather conditions during 2001–03 as the proximate cause of decline. However, the mechanisms of this weather-induced decline are not currently understood. Aims The aim of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that changing weather conditions have altered the availability of key prey species, potentially contributing to the species’ decline. Methods We analysed 229 scats collected from 125 individual wild quolls across four sites between July 2011 and May 2012. Variation in dietary composition and niche breadth was compared across sites and seasons. We also compared contemporary dietary composition and niche breadth to historic dietary studies performed before the species’ decline, to identify any key changes in dietary composition over time. Key results Dietary composition and niche breadth were similar across sites but differed between seasons. Dietary niche contracted during winter (July) and early spring (September) when insect larvae formed the bulk of quoll diet, rendering the species vulnerable to weather-related fluctuations in food availability at that time. Large differences were also evident between current and historic dietary composition, with a marked shift from insect larvae to mammals, predominantly due to a reduction in corbie (Oncopera intricata) and southern armyworm (Persectania ewingii) moth larvae. Quoll abundance appears positively related to corbie larva abundance during winter, and both quoll and corbie larva abundance appear negatively related to winter rainfall. Conclusions The lower contribution of insects at sites with low quoll densities suggests that insects represent an important food item for eastern quolls during winter, when dietary niche is narrowest and energy demands are highest. Our findings suggest that weather-induced fluctuations in quoll abundance, including the significant statewide decline during 2001–03, are potentially driven by weather-induced fluctuations in corbie larva abundance. Implications Continued deterioration in climatic suitability with recent and predicted climate change could further threaten eastern quolls through reductions in the availability and stability of reliable food sources at critical life-history stages when dietary options are already limited.

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Behavioral Strategies of the European Consumer with Impact on the Diversity of Bioresources

Annals ”Valahia” University of Targoviste - Agriculture ◽

10.2478/agr-2018-0015 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 39-42

Author(s):

Simona Nicoleta Stan ◽

Amalia-Gianina Străteanu

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Food Safety ◽

Genetic Resource ◽

Well Being ◽

Trade Agreements ◽

Behavioral Strategies ◽

Security Cooperation ◽

European Consumer ◽

Combat Climate Change ◽

The Eu

Abstract On the international scene, Europe expresses its views and acts concerted at an economic and political level, from trade and trade agreements to citizens’ safety and security as priority areas. Member States’ security cooperation has become routine. But the EU-27 is still the main promoter of European citizens’ food safety and security through sustained, transparent and sustainable deners, in order to combat climate change, limiting the use of bioresources conservation of genetic resource biodiversity. One of the strongest enemies of biodiversity is “poverty” and protection against it necessarily implies improving the well-being of humanity and fighting against underdevelopment.

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