UN land crisis report: high demand creating hunger and environmental destruction
DAVOS (SWITZERLAND) / LONDON (UK), 24 January 2014 – Commenting on a key United Nations report on global land use launched today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, highlighting risks to people and the environment from increasing global competition for land, Kirtana Chandrasekaran, Friends of the Earth International food sovereignty coordinator said:
“Experts have corroborated what small scale food producers have been warning: high demand for food and biomass from rich countries is driving up demand for land, creating hunger and destroying the environment.”
“Across the world land is being grabbed from local communities who are best placed to manage it and feed local people and converted to plantations producing food and fuels for developed nations. This is unjust and can be prevented.”
“The report offers a solution, stopping land use for biofuels and biomass, shifting to low meat diets, and keeping track of countries land use abroad.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Kirtana Chandrasekaran, food sovereignty coordinator, Friends of the Earth International Tel: +44 (0)20 7566 1669 or Mobile: + 44 (0) 79 619 86956 or kirtana.chandrasekaran@foe.co.uk
NOTES
The report by the United Nations International Resource Panel: Assessing Global Land Use: Balancing Consumption with Sustainable Supply, is downloadable from http://www.unep.org/resourcepanel/
Key findings of the UN report include :
– Competition for land is likely to increase further in the future, leading to more deforestation and habitat loss and intensifying negative environmental and social impacts.
– Europe is consuming more than its fair share of land, at the expense of other world regions, and needs to reduce its consumption of cropland by around a third.
