According to an Oxfam report, climate change can have dire impacts on the global food system.
Extreme weather such as droughts, heatwaves, floods and rising sea levels can result in high food prices, as well as food shortages. The price for food and staples is expected to double in the next two decades because of variable weather conditions and low rainfall. Global warming can also significantly reduce the availability and quality of crops, including rice, corn and coffee.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report is also expected to prove that the rate of global warming is increasing and that humans are mostly to blame. Therefore, reducing greenhouse gas emissions considerably on a global scale and building resilience can help prevent an increase in food prices, the scarcity of food, a fall in incomes and a rise in poverty.
Furthermore, high food prices can increase hunger, which could negatively affect Australia. To reduce the negative effects of climate change and global warming on the world’s food system, the Coalition government in Australia would cut emissions by 5% in 2020.