Around the world, nearly US$1 trillion worth of food is wasted annually. This amounts to a third of the food produced annually by weight and a quarter by calories. Food loss and waste occur throughout the supply chain.

In the last three years, the absolute number of people affected by undernourishment or chronic food deprivation globally has been on an increasing trajectory. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated that, with the reversal in trends, there were 821 hungry million people in 2017, up from around 804 million people in 2016.

In October, the United Nations (UN) released a report which highlighted that the world could be on the brink of a climate change disaster if immediate measures are not taken. Leading scientists behind the report have said that the world only has 12 years to keep global warming at a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius or it could face a risk of severe drought, flooding and extreme heat for millions of people. The effects of climate change have already been seen in the region.

When we think about winning the fight against climate change, most people concentrate on reducing greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions from cars, trucks, and other machines powered by fossil fuels. But while these emissions sources are certainly worthy of our attention, another culprit receives far less than it deserves: our food.Farm and food sustainability are important pieces of the climate-change puzzle, but at the moment, climate-sustainable diets are not on the menu.

In the next two weeks, thousands of world leaders, business representatives, climate experts, activists and lobbyist, as well as indigenous and local communities, will be congregating in the Polish coal city of Katowice, for the 24th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), or COP24.

From farm to fork, the international community is facing growing challenges in eradicating hunger and malnutrition. And yet while some parts of the world are obviously better endowed than others in terms of climate, soil, water, and geography, there is plenty of food to go around. So why is food insecurity a problem for so many people in so many countries?What is missing are conditions ensuring that healthy and nutritious food can reach those who need it.

For anyone still undecided about the consequences of global warming, the summer of 2018, one of the hottest on record, should have tipped the scales. Across far-flung longitudes and latitudes, regions are struggling with the fallout from large-scale climate-related events.In the southern United States (US), cities and towns pummelled by Hurricane Florence in September were still drying out when Hurricane Michael brought more flooding in October.

In August, when United States (US) President Donald Trump proposed to freeze fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks, environmentalists and their supporters were outraged.

More than 50 European and Asian leaders backed free trade and the fight against climate change on Friday in a veiled swipe at United States (US) President Donald Trump and his increasingly protectionist approach.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projected that global warming is likely to reach 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2030. This is projected to bring about changes in the climate and natural systems, including changes in the frequency and intensity of weather events, sea-level rise, habitat and range loss, biodiversity loss, water scarcity and more.