Climate Change and Food Systems

Annual Review of Environment and Resources

Vol. 37:195-222 (Volume publication date November 2012)
First published online as a Review in Advance on July 30, 2012
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-020411-130608
Sonja J. Vermeulen,1,2 Bruce M. Campbell,2,3 and John S.I. Ingram4,5
1
Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen,
Frederiksberg C, DK-1958, Denmark
2
Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers Research Program on
Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, Frederiksberg C, DK-1958, Denmark;
email: s.vermeulen@cgiar.org, b.campbell@cgiar.org
3
International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Cali, Colombia
4
Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, United
Kingdom; email: john.ingram@eci.ox.ac.uk
5
Natural Environment Research Council, Swindon SN2 1EU, United Kingdom
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Sections

• ABSTRACT
• KEYWORDS
• RELATED REVIEWS
• INTRODUCTION
• IMPACTS OF FOOD SYSTEMS ON CLIMATE CHANGE
• IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON FOOD SYSTEMS
• INTERVENTIONS TO MANAGE THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN FOOD SYSTEMS
AND CLIMATE CHANGE
• SUMMARY POINTS
• FUTURE ISSUES
• DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• LITERATURE CITED

Abstract

Food systems contribute 19%–29% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG)

emissions, releasing 9,800–16,900 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent
(MtCO2e) in 2008. Agricultural production, including indirect emissions associated
with land-cover change, contributes 80%–86% of total food system emissions, with
significant regional variation. The impacts of global climate change on food systems
are expected to be widespread, complex, geographically and temporally variable,
and profoundly influenced by socioeconomic conditions. Historical statistical studies
and integrated assessment models provide evidence that climate change will affect
agricultural yields and earnings, food prices, reliability of delivery, food quality, and,
notably, food safety. Low-income producers and consumers of food will be more
vulnerable to climate change owing to their comparatively limited ability to invest in
adaptive institutions and technologies under increasing climatic risks. Some
synergies among food security, adaptation, and mitigation are feasible. But
promising interventions, such as agricultural intensification or reductions in waste,
will require careful management to distribute costs and benefits effectively.

Keywords

food security, agriculture, food chain, mitigation, adaptation, greenhouse gas