This event brought together Chatham House Under 35 Members and UNA UK Young Professionals to provide an excellent networking platform and the opportunity to learn first-hand from experts in the fields of climate change and food security.
According to the UN Food & Agriculture Organization, the global spike in food prices and economic downturn have pushed an additional 115 million people into poverty and hunger. In 2009, the total number of hungry people in the world topped one billion for the first time. Since then, the number has dipped slightly - to 925 million - but the recent sharp increase in food prices may will cause it to rise again.
In addition to addressing the immediate impacts of soaring food prices, we need to act now to strengthen the ability of food producers, especially poor farmers, to withstand future shocks and boost productivity to secure long-term food and nutritional security.
The panelists
Tim Gore, Oxfam's climate change policy advisor
Tom MacMillian, Executive Director of the Food Ethics Council, and
Richard Choularton, Senior Policy Officer on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction at the World Food Programme
The panel discussed the knock-on effect on human health, livelihoods and food production in both the long and the short term, and the impact on the world's poorest and most vulnerable communities, and explored the impact of food production and consumption on climate change and food security.
