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Pick Up840. Food Systems and Planetary Goals: Two Inseparable Policy Agendas
The Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition released a policy brief, "Food Systems and Planetary Goals: Two Inseparable Policy Agendas” last month.
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Pick Up839. Risk of Extreme Weather Events Under Global Warming
During this summer holiday, reports of extreme wildfires and typhoon-related flooding have come from many parts of the world. As global warming continues, the likelihood of such extreme events affecting people's lives is expected to increase, and there is an urgent need for accurate information for preparedness on the one hand, and a commitment by all stakeholders to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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Pick Up838. Multiple Indicators of Global Temperature Reach New Highs
On August 8, the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the European Union's meteorological observation agency, announced that in July 2023, several indicators related to global temperatures reached record highs in the history of observations dating back to 1940. Behind this heat was an unusually high sea surface temperature for the period.
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Pick Up837. Global Land Squeeze
With the world's population projected to reach nearly 10 billion by 2050, humanity's demands for food, timber, and urbanization are increasing, and competition for land use with climate change and biodiversity conservation goals is accelerating. A recent report from the World Resources Institute describes this situation as a "global land squeeze" and proposes a "produce, protect, reduce, restore" approach to sustainable management of finite land resources.
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Pick Up836. Adaptation to Climate Change
Adaptation to climate change requires not only financial resources, but also social infrastructure, information, and administrative capacity. On August 4th, in an article in Nature Climate Change, it was argued that just as the impacts of climate change vary globally, there is also significant variability in society's ability to adapt, and it called for increased support for vulnerable communities.
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Pick Up835. July 2023 World Food Price Index
On August 4, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released its World Food Price Index for July 2023, which averaged 123.9 points, up 1.5 points (1.3%) from the previous month, but 16.6 points (11.8%) below the level recorded in the same month last year. The combination of events that increased uncertainty in the global food market in July, including Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grains Initiative and India's restrictions on certain rice exports, continues to raise concerns about food security.
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Pick Up834. Fingerprints of Climate Change in July 2023 Heat Wave
July 2023 was the hottest month on record, and on August 2, Climate Central, a nonprofit organization dedicated to communicating the science of climate change, announced that the Climate Shift Index, a measure of human-induced climate change in the heat waves observed in July, showed clear evidence of human-induced climate change affecting 6.5 billion people, or 81% of the world's population.
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Pick Up833. Towards a Definition of the Anthropocene
The Anthropocene is a hypothetical geological epoch proposed as the starting point for humanity's significant impact on Earth's geology and ecosystems. While researchers have not yet agreed on a definition of the Anthropocene, it was announced in mid-July that the sedimentary layers at the bottom of Crawford Lake in Ontario, Canada, have been selected as a candidate site for the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) representing the Anthropocene.
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Pick Up832. Magnesium Fertilization Reduces Iron Toxicity-induced Leaf Bronzing in Rice
Iron toxicity, which occurs in many rice paddy regions in Asia and Africa, has long been recognized as having a negative impact on rice growth and yield. However, many of the key factors responsible for its tolerance remain unclear. One of the responses induced by excess iron is leaf bronzing symptom. Based on field experiments in iron toxic plots in Madagascar and greenhouse experiments in Japan, JIRCAS has shown that fertilization with magnesium, one of the essential plant elements, is effective in reducing bronzing and has proposed a mechanism for its reduction. The balance between minerals is important for iron toxicity tolerance and is expected to provide important clues for promoting breeding for iron toxicity tolerance in rice.
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Pick Up831. Actions to Build a Sustainable Food System
In September 2021, the UN Food System Summit was held based on the idea of UN Secretary-General Guterres that the transition to a sustainable food system is essential to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The follow-up meeting, the UN Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment (UNFSS+2), was held this week at the FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.
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Pick Up830. Uncertainty in the Global Food Market
With Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative on July 17, there is growing uncertainty about the disruption of food supplies from Russia and Ukraine. Both countries are major producers and exporters of grains such as wheat, corn, and sunflower oil, and these trends in global food prices are cause for concern. Recently, India, the world's leading exporter of rice, another major staple, has reportedly imposed export restrictions. Geopolitical factors, developments in major exporting countries, the impact of extreme weather events, and the responses of exporting and importing countries to these factors have a major impact on world food prices and global food security. -
Pick Up829. July 2023 World Weather and 2022 Asian Climate
On July 27, the United Nations announced that July 2023 is likely to set a record for the hottest month on record, signaling the end of the global warming era and the arrival of global boiling. On the same day, the World Meteorological Organization released the State of the Climate in Asia 2022, which noted that the impact of extreme events and climate change has increased in recent years. The report also mentioned that agriculture will continue to be significantly affected, emphasizing the urgency of climate change adaptation to build a resilient food system.
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Pick Up828. Development of a Simple Method for Monitoring Pesticide Susceptibility of Fall Armyworm
Fall armyworm, a globally invasive pest that damages crops such as corn, requires international cooperation among neighboring countries for effective pest management due to its high mobility. The Plant Protection Research and Development Office, Department of Agriculture, Thailand, in collaboration with JIRCAS, has published a research paper on a simple method for monitoring pesticide susceptibility of fall armyworm and sharing information among different countries in Southeast Asia. -
Pick Up827. Climate Change Significantly Increased the Occurrence of Extreme Heatwaves in July 2023
In July of this year, record-high temperatures have been surpassed in various parts of the world. On July 16th, the temperatures exceeded 50℃ in Death Valley, USA, and in northwestern China. On July 25th, the World Weather Attribution, an organization that analyzes extreme events and their connection to climate change, reported that extreme heatwaves similar to those observed in North America, Southern Europe, and China during July 2023 are becoming more likely due to climate change.
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Pick Up826. Climate Change and Climate Justice
The impacts of climate change extend beyond the countries and regions that have been the largest emitters of greenhouse gases. Late developing countries and regions, often referred to as the Global South, which have historically contributed relatively little to emissions, are also suffering significant negative impacts. Recent papers have argued that the private wealth of today's wealthy countries has been built on "climate wealth borrowing," essentially borrowing from the world's total wealth, and emphasize the need to retrospectively assess historical responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions. Another paper suggests that the discourse on responsibility for climate change should shift from normative and ethical concepts to a focus on practical considerations in specific contexts. -
Pick Up825. UN Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment Side Event
The United Nations Food System Summit was held in September 2021. Following that, a meeting for stocktaking is scheduled to take place every two years. The first of these meetings, known as the UN Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment (UNFSS+2), is being held for three days starting today, July 24th, at the FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and JIRCAS will host an official UNFSS+2 side event on July 24.
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Pick Up824. Food Production and Ecosystem
Geopolitical factors such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine and extreme weather conditions, as evidenced by the daily heat waves, bring uncertainty to food security. It is at times like these that we must consider the need for ecosystem restoration that will lead to a strengthening of the food production base.
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Pick Up823. Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2023
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) have released the 2023 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report.
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Pick Up822. Russian Withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative
Over the past year, since its conclusion last July, the Black Sea Grain Initiative has contributed to global food security with three extensions. However, on July 17, as the attack on the Crimean bridge was reported, it was announced that Russia would withdraw from the grain agreement, risking a resurgence of rising food prices. -
Pick Up821. Catastrophic Heat Waves Around the World
Recent heat waves of unprecedented intensity in the Northern Hemisphere have caused damage to human health, ecosystems, economies, agriculture, and energy and water supplies. Against this backdrop, it has been reported that John Kerry, the U.S. President's Special Envoy on Climate Issues, is visiting Beijing, China, where the world's two largest emitters will resume negotiations to coordinate action on climate change. The world is watching to see if the unprecedented pace of record high temperatures will move the major powers to take action on climate change.