A new report forecasts that shocks to food production (reductions of 5%-7%) will be three times more likely by 2040, because of increases in extreme weather brought about by climate change. As a result, the position of people in developing countries will be “almost untenable” position, with the USA and UK “very much exposed” to …
Continue reading “Food production shocks ‘will happen more often because of extreme weather’”
The President of Iceland says we are at an historic crossroads, where “we have to choose (whether we like it or not) what is more important: the interests of the financial markets, or the democratic will of the people.” (from 34-55 seconds)
Here is Noam Chomsky speaking eloquently and briefly on current energy policy and its implications for the legacy of our generation for future generations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axdrh9F3Kqo
Even the British Medical Journal is talking about climate change. “The IPCC has already concluded that it is ‘virtually certain that human influence has warmed the global climate system’ and … its new report outlines the future threats of… increased scarcity of food and fresh water; extreme weather events; rise in sea level; loss of …
A recent article in the New York Times puts the cost of environmental degradation in China at about $230 billion in 2010. This is 3.5 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, three times the level in 2004. “This cuts to the heart of China’s economic challenge: how to transform from the explosive growth of the …
Continue reading “The two sides of change for a sustainable future”
In February this year, KPMG published a report identifying ten “sustainability megaforces that will affect every business over the next two decades.” They have identified ten good drivers of change. They just seem to have missed a trick when it comes to showing how these issues will have serious consequences for business leaders. Even inclusion of the …
In January this year Deloitte published a short but seemingly comprehensive overview of the key upcoming issues in the global water sector. Although 70 per cent of the Earth’s surface is covered with water, the report is focused on the “less than 0.5 per cent of the world’s water [that] is available for human and …
A UN report (published March 2011) says that adopting agroecology methods, if sufficiently supported, could double food production in entire regions within 10 years. At the same time it would mitigate climate change, and alleviate rural poverty. States and donors must take a leading role in making this happen, the report says, since “private companies will …
Continue reading “Agro-ecology can double food production in 10 years”
Posting, here, a link to an interesting story about food-growing in sub-Saharan Africa. The article explains how crop yields there have been falling dangerously low, and how the traditional approach of ‘adding more fertilisers’ is no longer working. A new approach, called ‘agroforestry’, involves working more closely with nature — and is having great results. In this …
In a recent interview with Newsweek, George Soros has said that he foresees “riots on the streets [in the USA] that will lead to a brutal clampdown that will dramatically curtail civil liberties.” This is not good news for US citizens, or business. People who are rioting do not make good customers, or employees. And …