Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Feeding and Fuelling the World Sustainably, Fairly and Humanely


The ever increasing demands of a growing and increasingly affluent world population are confronting the natural world with mounting pressures. Increased land use is already degrading the ability of many ecosystems to deliver vital services to humanity. While modern agricultural technologies have resulted in rapid increases in yields and efficiencies, they have also caused significant and widespread negative environmental effects resulting in the degradation of soil and ecosystems. Biodiversity is lost at a pace that exceeds natural rates of species loss by several orders of magnitude. Agriculture is both affected by, and can exacerbate, climate change. Providing sufficient food and fuel for the world sustainably, fairly and humanely in the coming decades is therefore one of the grand challenges humanity currently faces.This study analyzes several important objectives for global food and fuel production and use, as well as interrelations and possible trade-offs between these. Full report available on Friends of the Earth website

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