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635. World Food Price Index for September 2022
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released on October 7 the global Food Price Index for September 2022, averaging 136.3 points, 1.1 percent lower than in August and the sixth consecutive month of decline since March, when the price hit an all-time high. Tomorrow, October 13, a side event of the FAO Science and Innovation Forum 2022, "Creating Sustainable Food Systems in Asia Monsoon Region through Science and Innovation" will be held online. Registration is open until 5 pm today.
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634. Climate Change May Lead to the Collapse of Civilization
Climate change is feared to threaten the habitability of significant areas of the planet, and even the very existence of civilized societies, according to an opinion article published in PNAS by a scientist who calls for research into the possible collapse of civilized societies due to climate change.
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633. Recent Extreme Weather Events
Extreme typhoons and cyclones were reported in many parts of the globe. Typhoon No. 14 hit Japan in mid-September, Hurricane Ian hit Cuba and Florida at the end of September, and Typhoon Noru caused damage in the Philippines and Vietnam. Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of extreme events. In addition to expanding early warning systems, climate change adaptation and mitigation measures must be taken.
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632. For Better Production, Better Nutrition, Better Environment, Better Life
Ten days from now, on October 16, is World Food Day, established by the United Nations as a day to reflect on the world’s food problems. This year's theme is "Leave NO ONE Behind”. One week from now, on October 13, JIRCAS will hold an online symposium “Creating Sustainable Food Systems in the Asia Monsoon Region through Science and Innovation” as a side-event of the FAO Science and Innovation Forum 2022.
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631. Responding to the Global Food Price Crisis
In Japan, many food price increases have been reported this October. Looking around the world, food and fertilizer prices are still at historically high levels due to climate shocks, armed conflicts and pandemics at the regional level, as well as the war in Ukraine, which has worsened production and distribution conditions. According to a note released by the IMF at the end of September, food and fertilizer price shocks have had the greatest impact on 48 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and West Asia, mainly due to additional import costs.
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630. Research on Global Dietary Quality
Knowing exactly what people around the world are eating is important, but not easy. In this issue, we present a paper (Miller et al. 2022) that comprehensively quantifies and evaluates the quality of diets around the world.
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629. Gaps in International Cooperation Could Delay Net Zero by Decades
The International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions have released the Breakthrough Agenda Report 2022, highlighting the importance of strengthening international cooperation to drive faster reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions.
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628. One Earth: Research Priorities for Global Food Security Under Extreme Events
Today, heat waves, floods, droughts, pest outbreaks, financial crises, and military conflicts are all occurring simultaneously worldwide, threatening stable food production and supply. A paper in One Earth identified three research questions that should be prioritized over the next 20 years, including better maps and prediction of food system challenges, farm-level interventions to strengthen farmers' resilience and adaptive capacity, and food system transformation.
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627. International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste
September 29 is the “International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste” as designated by the United Nations. Let's take action to reduce food loss for people and the planet.
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626. Biodiversity, Climate Change and Insects Flying into Urban Buildings
Changes in behavior patterns due to extreme weather can have a variety of consequences for the survival of many organisms, including insects. There is concern that climate change will affect the survival of organisms in unexpected places around the world, leading to loss of biodiversity. Today, I would like to consider climate change and biodiversity from the perspective of issues close to home in Tsukuba, where JIRCAS is located.
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625. Challenges of Food Systems Transitions
On September 21, heads of international organizations issued a joint statement in response to the global food security crisis for the second time since July, calling for comprehensive international coordination to support efficient production and trade, improve transparency, accelerate innovation, and invest in food systems transformation. In order to transform the food system for the health of the planet and humankind, it is first necessary to understand the current state of the food system. A paper published this month in Nature Food attempts to visualize the challenges by classifying the world's countries into food system typology.
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624. FAO Science and Innovation Strategy
Building a world free of hunger and malnutrition requires the full use of science and innovation to overcome complex social, economic, and environmental challenges in the agri-food systems. The FAO Science and Innovation Forum will be held from October 17 to 21. JIRCAS will present examples of science and innovation targeting the Asia-Monsoon Region at a side event of the Forum on October 13.
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623. One Year After the UN Food Systems Summit
Exactly one year ago, on September 23, 2021, the United Nations Food Systems Summit was held. One year later, in the wake of events such as concerns about rising world food prices caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, soaring fertilizer prices, and frequent extreme weather events, the need to build a sustainable and resilient food system is more important than ever.
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622. Human Development Report 2021/2022
On September 8, the United Nations Development Programme released the 2021/2022 Human Development Report (HDR) — “Uncertain Times, Unsettled Lives: Shaping our The Shaping our Future in a Transforming World”, noting that human development indicators have fallen back for the second consecutive year to 2016 levels, and warned that progress toward achieving the SDGs by 2030 has disappeared.
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621. The Role of Climate Change in Pakistan Floods
From mid-June to late August 2022, Pakistan experienced unprecedented flooding over a large part of the country due to monsoon rainfall well above normal. According to the World Weather Attribution , the Indus Basin is highly variable from year to year and that the complex nature of rainfall in the westernmost part of the monsoon region is difficult to simulate, but suggests that climate change may have intensified the intensity of short-term rainfall.
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620. United in Science 2022
In conjunction with the UN General Assembly in September, UN agencies, led by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), have released United in Science 2022, a multi-organization high-level compilation of the most recent science related to climate change, impacts and responses. UN Secretary-General Guterres noted the huge gap between the ambitious goals for climate change and the current situation, warned that the world is moving in a catastrophic direction, and called for urgent action to combat climate change
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619. Report on TICAD 8 Side Event “Managing African Soil for Food Security and Environmental Sustainability”
The TICAD 8 official side event “Managing African Soil for Food Security and Environmental Sustainability” was successfully held on August 30, 2022. A report on the event has now been uploaded to the JIRCAS website.
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618. "Innovation and Networking of Sugarcane Research for Future Sugarcane Industry in the Asian and Pacific Region" Workshop Tomorrow and Registration Deadline Today
The workshop on the development of sugarcane research in the Asia-Pacific region is coming up tomorrow. Brazil is the world's largest producer of sugarcane, and the top five largest producers include India, Thailand, Pakistan, and China, making Asia's contribution to this crop very significant as well. Before the workshop, please watch the following video to review the cultivation and utilization of sugarcane and its potential.
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617. Warming Above 1.5°C Could Trigger Multiple Climate Tipping Points
Climate tipping points (CTPs), which are believed to trigger irreversible changes in the Earth system, are increasingly gaining public attention both scientifically and politically. A paper summarizing the latest evidence on tipping points involving increasingly uncontrollable and irreversible changes to the Earth has been published in Science.
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616. Elucidating the Actual State of High-Temperature Sterility in Rice Through International Monitoring Network
As global warming progresses, there is concern about the decline in productivity and quality of paddy rice due to heat-induced sterility caused by exposure of the spikelets to high temperatures during flowering. A research group including JIRCAS has established an international open-field rice monitoring network (MINCERnet) covering 11 countries around the world to accumulate and analyze data from paddy fields under various climatic conditions. The research group identified that heat-induced sterility can be uniformly evaluated by using panicle temperature at the time of flowering, rather than ambient air temperature as an indicator. This evaluation method will improve the accuracy of predicting heat-induced sterility around the world and enable appropriate countermeasures to be taken.