A Framework for Addressing the Twin Challenges of COVID-19 and Climate Change for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in South Asia

Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems ◽

10.3389/fsufs.2021.679037 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

Author(s):

Golam Rasul

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Climate Change ◽

Food Security ◽

South Asia ◽

Food Systems ◽

Natural Capital ◽

Health Sector ◽

Integrated Approach ◽

Climate Mitigation ◽

Trade Offs

Climate change has begun to ravage agriculture and threaten food security in many parts of the world. The novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has further disrupted agricultural activities and supply chains and has become a serious threat for public health. Like in many developing countries, South Asian farmers are now facing the double challenge of addressing the impacts of a changing climate and managing the disruptions caused by COVID-19. Despite growing concern, there is limited understanding of how climate change, public health, and COVID-19 interact, and of the possible pathways to achieving a climate-friendly recovery from COVID-19 to achieve food and nutrition security. In view of this, this paper explores the multifaceted challenges that farmers are now facing in South Asia due to climate change and the disruption caused by COVID-19 from the agricultural and food security lens. The analysis reveals that the complex interactions of COVID-19 and climate change have impacted all dimensions of food security. These interlinkages demand an integrated approach in dealing with food, public health, and climate change to harness synergies and minimize trade-offs between food production, public health, and climate mitigation. I present a framework to address the immediate challenge of COVID-19 and the longer-term challenge of anthropogenic climate change. Key elements of the framework include the strengthening health sector response capacities, strengthening of local and regional food systems, making agriculture resilient to pandemics, adopting flexible and smart approaches—including the implementation of climate-smart agricultural interventions on different scales, promotion of appropriate research and innovation, and the integration of short-term support to address the challenges of COVID-19 to build long-term productivity, and resilience of food systems by investing on natural capital. This framework would enable policy makers to choose the appropriate policy responses at different scales, to address these twin challenges of COVID-19 and climate change.

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AN INTEGRATED ADAPTATION AND MITIGATION FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH: SYNERGIES AND TRADE-OFFS

Experimental Agriculture ◽

10.1017/s0014479711000123 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 47 (2) ◽

pp. 185-203 ◽

Cited By ~ 60

Author(s):

ANDY JARVIS ◽

CHARLOTTE LAU ◽

SIMON COOK ◽

EVA WOLLENBERG ◽

JAMES HANSEN ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Food Security ◽

Food Systems ◽

Agricultural Research ◽

Behavioural Change ◽

Integrated Approach ◽

Future Research ◽

Global Food Security ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Adaptation And Mitigation

SUMMARYGlobal food security is under threat by climate change, and the impacts fall disproportionately on resource-poor small producers. With the goal of making agricultural and food systems more climate-resilient, this paper presents an adaptation and mitigation framework. A road map for further agricultural research is proposed, based on the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security. We propose a holistic, integrated approach that takes into account trade-offs and feedbacks between interventions. We divide the agenda into four research areas, three tackling risk management, accelerated adaptation and emissions mitigation, and the fourth facilitating adoption of research outputs. After reviewing specific technical, agronomic and policy options for reducing climate change vulnerability, we acknowledge that science and good-faith recommendations do not necessarily translate into effective and timely actions. We therefore outline impediments to behavioural change and propose that future research overcomes these obstacles by linking the right institutions, instruments and scientific outputs. Food security research must go beyond its focus on production to also examine food access and utilization issues. Finally, we conclude that urgent action is needed despite the uncertainties, trade-offs and challenges.

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Global climate policy will focus on land use

Emerald Expert Briefings ◽

10.1108/oxan-db245967 ◽

2019 ◽

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Food Security ◽

Land Management ◽

Agricultural Production ◽

Large Scale ◽

Natural Capital ◽

Early Warning Systems ◽

Extreme Weather Events ◽

Content Type ◽

Trade Offs

Subject Food security and land management. Significance A new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reviewing the impacts of climate change on land highlights that climate change is happening faster over land than the global average. This has direct negative impacts for agricultural production, water availability and food security. However, the increasing severity of these impacts will also reduce longer-term adaptation options through land-based strategies, and the ability of soil to act as a carbon sink. The prospect of large-scale bioenergy-based technologies to achieve negative emissions also faces trade-offs and competition with other land uses. Impacts Better natural capital accounting for ecosystem services will incentivise climate-sensitive land management strategies. Carbon pricing may expand to agricultural systems, but is thus far untested. Investment in early-warning systems can reduce risks from extreme weather events on agricultural production.

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Food and Earth Systems: Priorities for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation for Agriculture and Food Systems

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11051372 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 1372 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Ana Loboguerrero ◽

Bruce Campbell ◽

Peter Cooper ◽

James Hansen ◽

Todd Rosenstock ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Food Security ◽

Climate Change Adaptation ◽

Food Systems ◽

Production Efficiency ◽

Agriculture Sector ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Development Goals ◽

Smart Agriculture ◽

Adaptation And Mitigation

Human activities and their relation with land, through agriculture and forestry, are significantly impacting Earth system functioning. Specifically, agriculture has increasingly become a key sector for adaptation and mitigation initiatives that address climate change and help ensure food security for a growing global population. Climate change and agricultural outcomes influence our ability to reach targets for at least seven of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. By 2015, 103 nations had committed themselves to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, while 102 countries had prioritized agriculture in their adaptation agenda. Adaptation and mitigation actions within agriculture still receive insufficient support across scales, from local to international level. This paper reviews a series of climate change adaptation and mitigation options that can support increased production, production efficiency and greater food security for 9 billion people by 2050. Climate-smart agriculture can help foster synergies between productivity, adaptation, and mitigation, although trade-offs may be equally apparent. This study highlights the importance of identifying and exploiting those synergies in the context of Nationally Determined Contributions. Finally, the paper points out that keeping global warming to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels by 2100 requires going beyond the agriculture sector and exploring possibilities with respect to reduced emissions from deforestation, food loss, and waste, as well as from rethinking human diets.

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Malnutrition, Public Health, and Ethics

The Oxford Handbook of Public Health Ethics ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190245191.013.48 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 570-584

Author(s):

Jessica Fanzo

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Food Security ◽

Overweight And Obesity ◽

Micronutrient Deficiencies ◽

Intergenerational Justice ◽

Ethical Challenges ◽

Environmentally Sustainable ◽

Nutritious Food ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Society Today

A major challenge for society today is how to secure and provide plentiful, healthy, and nutritious food for all in an environmentally sustainable and safe manner, while also addressing the multiple burdens of undernutrition, overweight and obesity, stunting and wasting, and micronutrient deficiencies, particularly for the most vulnerable. There are considerable ethical questions and trade-offs that arise when attempting to address this challenge, centered around integrating nutrition into the food security paradigm. This chapter attempts to highlight three key ethical challenges: the prioritization of key actions to address the multiple burdens of malnutrition, intergenerational justice issues of nutrition-impacted epigenetics, and the consequences of people’s diet choices, not only for humanity but also for the planet.

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Green Deal as a Climate Changes Dam on the Road to Health

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckaa165.295 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽

Author(s):

M Jevtic ◽

C Bouland

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Climate Change ◽

Circular Economy ◽

Clinical Medicine ◽

Health Sector ◽

The Public ◽

The Road ◽

National Public Health ◽

On The Road ◽

The Impact

Abstract Public health professionals (PHP) have a dual task in climate change. They should persuade their colleagues in clinical medicine of the importance of all the issues covered by the GD. The fact that the health sector contributes to the overall emissions of 4.4% speaks to the lack of awareness within the health sector itself. The issue of providing adequate infrastructure for the health sector is essential. Strengthening the opportunities and development of the circular economy within healthcare is more than just a current issue. The second task of PHP is targeting the broader population. The public health mission is being implemented, inter alia, through numerous activities related to environmental monitoring and assessment of the impact on health. GD should be a roadmap for priorities and actions in public health, bearing in mind: an ambitious goal of climate neutrality, an insistence on clean, affordable and safe energy, a strategy for a clean and circular economy. GD provides a framework for the development of sustainable and smart transport, the development of green agriculture and policies from field to table. It also insists on biodiversity conservation and protection actions. The pursuit of zero pollution and an environment free of toxic chemicals, as well as incorporating sustainability into all policies, is also an indispensable part of GD. GD represents a leadership step in the global framework towards a healthier future and comprises all the non-EU members as well. The public health sector should consider the GD as an argument for achieving goals at national levels, and align national public health policies with the goals of this document. There is a need for stronger advocacy of health and public-health interests along with incorporating sustainability into all policies. Achieving goals requires the education process for healthcare professionals covering all of topics of climate change, energy and air pollution to a much greater extent than before.

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Identifying integrated options for agricultural climate change mitigation

International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management ◽

10.1108/ijccsm-09-2012-0053 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 192-211 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

John Tzilivakis ◽

Kathleen Lewis ◽

Andrew Green ◽

Douglas Warner

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Climate Change Mitigation ◽

Effective Means ◽

Integrated Approach ◽

Management Options ◽

Content Type ◽

Mitigation Options ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Environmental Objectives ◽

Change Mitigation

Purpose – In order to achieve reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it is essential that all industry sectors have the appropriate knowledge and tools to contribute. This includes agriculture, which is considered to contribute about a third of emissions globally. This paper reports on one such tool: IMPACCT: Integrated Management oPtions for Agricultural Climate Change miTigation. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – IMPACCT focuses on GHGs, carbon sequestration and associated mitigation options. However, it also attempts to include information on economic and other environmental impacts in order to provide a more holistic perspective. The model identifies mitigation options, likely economic impacts and any synergies and trade-offs with other environmental objectives. The model has been applied on 22 case study farms in seven Member States. Findings – The tool presents some useful concepts for developing carbon calculators in the future. It has highlighted that calculators need to evolve from simply calculating emissions to identifying cost-effective and integrated emissions reduction options. Practical implications – IMPACCT has potential to become an effective means of provided targeted guidance, as part of a broader knowledge transfer programme based on an integrated suite of guidance, tools and advice delivered via different media. Originality/value – IMPACCT is a new model that demonstrates how to take a more integrated approach to mitigating GHGs on farms across Europe. It is a holistic carbon calculator that presents mitigation options in the context other environmental and economic objectives in the search for more sustainable methods of food production.

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Climate Change and Food Security in South Asia HDR 2011

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.2576102 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Dr. Seeme Mallick

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Food Security ◽

South Asia

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Potential impact of a US climate policy and air quality regulations on future air quality and climate change

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-15-31385-2015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 15 (21) ◽

pp. 31385-31432

Author(s):

Y. H. Lee ◽

D. T. Shindell ◽

G. Faluvegi ◽

R. W. Pinder

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Climate Change ◽

Air Quality ◽

Climate Policy ◽

Radiative Forcing ◽

Surface Ozone ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Climate Mitigation ◽

The Us ◽

Indirect Forcing

Abstract. We have investigated how future air quality and climate change are influenced by the US air quality regulations that existed or were proposed in 2013 and a hypothetical climate mitigation policy that reduces 2050 CO2 emissions to be 50 % below 2005 emissions. Using NASA GISS ModelE2, we look at the impacts in year 2030 and 2055. The US energy-sector emissions are from the GLIMPSE project (GEOS-Chem LIDORT Integrated with MARKAL for the Purpose of Scenario Exploration), and other US emissions and the rest of the world emissions are based on the RCP4.5 scenario. The US air quality regulations are projected to have a strong beneficial impact on US air quality and public health in the future but result in positive radiative forcing. Surface PM2.5 is reduced by ~ 2 μg m−3 on average over the US, and surface ozone by ~ 8 ppbv. The improved air quality prevents about 91 400 premature deaths in the US, mainly due to the PM2.5 reduction (~ 74 200 lives saved). The air quality regulations reduces the light-reflecting aerosols (i.e., sulfate and organic matter) more than the light-absorbing species (i.e., black carbon and ozone), leading a strong positive radiative forcing (RF) by both aerosols direct and indirect forcing: total RF is ~ 0.04 W m−2 over the globe; ~ 0.8 W m−2 over the US. Under the hypothetical climate policy, future US energy relies less on coal and thus SO2 emissions are noticeably reduced. This provides air quality co-benefits, but it leads to climate dis-benefits over the US. In 2055, the US mean total RF is +0.22 W m−2 due to positive aerosol direct and indirect forcing, while the global mean total RF is −0.06 W m−2 due to the dominant negative CO2 RF (instantaneous RF). To achieve a regional-scale climate benefit via a climate policy, it is critical (1) to have multi-national efforts to reduce GHGs emissions and (2) to target emission reduction of light-absorbing species (e.g., BC and O3) on top of long-lived species. The latter is very desirable as the resulting climate benefit occurs faster and provides co-benefits to air quality and public health.

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Quantifying synergies and trade-offs in the water-land-energy-food-climate nexus using a multi-model scenario approach

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-15192 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jonathan Doelman ◽

Tom Kram ◽

Benjamin Bodirsky ◽

Isabelle Weindle ◽

Elke Stehfest

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Food Security ◽

Food Production ◽

Large Scale ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Integrated Assessment Model ◽

Assessment Model ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Development Goals

The human population has substantially grown and become wealthier over the last decades. These developments have led to major increases in the use of key natural resources such as food, energy and water causing increased pressure on the environment throughout the world. As these trends are projected to continue into the foreseeable future, a crucial question is how the provision of resources as well as the quality of the environment can be managed sustainably.Environmental quality and resource provision are intricately linked. For example, food production depends on availability of water, land suitable for agriculture, and favourable climatic circumstances. In turn, food production causes climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions, and affects biodiversity through conversion of natural vegetation to agriculture and through the effects of excessive fertilizer and use of pesticides. There are many examples of the complex interlinkages between different production systems and environmental issues. To handle this complexity the nexus concept has been introduced which recognizes that different sectors are inherently interconnected and must be investigated in an integrated, holistic manner.Until now, the nexus literature predominantly exists of local studies or qualitative descriptions. This study present the first qualitative, multi-model nexus study at the global scale, based on scenarios simultaneously developed with the MAgPIE land use model and the IMAGE integrated assessment model. The goal is to quantify synergies and trade-offs between different sectors of the water-land-energy-food-climate nexus in the context of sustainable development goals (SDGs). Each scenario is designed to substantially improve one of the nexus sectors water, land, energy, food or climate. A number of indicators that capture important aspects of both the nexus sectors and related SDGs is selected to assess whether these scenarios provide synergies or trade-offs with other nexus sectors, and to quantify the effects. Additionally a scenario is developed that aims to optimize policy action across nexus sectors providing an example of a holistic approach that achieves multiple sustainable development goals.The results of this study highlight many synergies and trade-offs. For example, an important trade-off exists between climate change policy and food security targets: large-scale implementation of bio-energy and afforestation to achieve stringent climate targets negatively impacts food security. An interesting synergy exists between the food, water and climate sectors: promoting healthy diets reduces water use, improves water quality and increases the uptake of carbon by forests.

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