A group of global scientists has revealed that extreme weather events since 2022 have caused a major surge in the prices of foods around the world.
Foods such as South Korean cabbage, Australian lettuce, Japanese rice, Brazilian coffee, and Ghanaian cocoa have all seen a jump in prices due to heatwaves, floods, and droughts.
Six European groups in partnership with the European Central Bank released the list and showed how climate change is affecting food prices.
This report comes just before the UN Food Systems Summit. It will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from July 27 to 29, later this month.
How Does Climate Change Affect Food Prices?
Massive surges in food prices include cocoa, which rose by 280% globally in April 2024 after a heatwave hit cocoa-producing nations like Ghana and Ivory Coast.
In Australia, lettuce prices saw a surge of 300% due to floods.
Cabbage prices in South Korea went up by 70% after a widespread heatwave in September 2024.
Similarly, in the same month, prices of Japanese rice surged by 48%.
Due to high heat, India also witnessed an 81% rise in potato prices earlier in 2024.
Droughts also play a key role in this.
A 55% surge in global coffee prices in 2024 was a result of a drought in 2023 in Brazil.
Similarly, the Ethiopian drought in 2022 resulted in a 40% jump in food prices by 2023.
The report also disclosed food prices are quickly becoming a huge political issue.
Prices of rice were a key issue during recent elections in Japan.
What Steps Are Being Taken To Fight Climate Change?
Similarly, grocery costs held an important value during elections in Argentina, the US, and the UK in 2023 and 2024.
Amber Sawyer, a co-author of the report, noted climate change added £360 (USD 482) to the average household food bill in the U.K. over 2022 and 2023.
She said that uneven rainfall negatively affected the U.K.’s harvests.
Earlier, multiple countries pledged to slash emissions by 2.6% by 2030 under the UN climate agreement.
However, experts say that to meet the goal of the Paris Agreement, more needs to be done.
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