A global sustainable markets conference in Cairns will this week face the question of how to feed a growing global community with less.
At the conference, industry leaders and conservation experts will discuss the sustainable production of major commodities such as sugar, beef, seafood, paper and timber, and palm oil.
The conference follows the latest draft IPCC report warning of increasing threats to food security as a result of climate change and a rising demand for food commodities, with crop yields already being negatively impacted by global warming, and projected to drop further in many areas.
“WWF is partnering with businesses and producers all over the world on strategies that address some of the issues raised in the most recent IPCC report, such as how to produce more with less in a way that doesn’t further degrade critical ecosystems,” said head of WWF-Australia’s Market Transformations Initiative, Dr Joshua Bishop.
“While these strategies by themselves are not a solution to the problems presented by climate change, they will help us adapt to a changing world and to meet the rising demand for basic commodities. The global population is growing and we are using the Earth’s living resources faster than they can be replenished.”
The conference is taking place between 7 and 11 April and will bring together WWF conservation experts from all over the world, including the US, China, Europe and the Asia Pacific, as well as senior executives from leading corporations.