ENVIRONMENTAL, FOOD AND MIGRATION SUSTAINABILITY: THREE CHALLENGES TO OVERCOME TOGETHER

“World has three years left to stop dangerous climate change, warn experts”. The headline of an article published June 29 in The Guardian perfectly summarizes the message of an open letter (published in the journal Nature) penned by experts from around the globe, including former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres. The message is twofold. On the one hand, it reminds us just how critical the planet's current climatic conditions are: “This year’s weather has beaten high temperature records in some regions, and 2014, 2015 and 2016 were the hottest years on record”, and it also highlights “the worst effects of climate change - devastating droughts, floods, heatwaves and irreversible sea level rises”. On the other hand, it argues that not all is lost. Figueres, as UN climate chief when 195 countries adopted the Paris Agreement in December 2015, commented: “We stand at the doorway of being able to bend the emissions curve downwards by 2020, as science demands, in protection of the UN sustainable development goals, and in particular the eradication of extreme poverty… The opportunity given to us over the next three years is unique in history.” But to seize this opportunity, the signatories of the letter concluded, we will need “unprecedented effort and coordination from governments, businesses, citizens and scientists in the next three years.” This topic is at the heart of the second Food Sustainability Report, as climate change was catapulted into the international spotlight in the three months from April to June 2017, following two closely connected events: 1. The G7 in Taormina, Italy (May 26-27), during which President Donald Trump mentioned the United States' intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement; 2. The official announcement by Trump, just a few hours after returning home at the White House Rose Garden (June 1). In addition, by making the connection as stated by Figueres between climate change and extreme poverty, this issue of the Food Sustainability Report looks at the current international debate over the relationship between climate change and migration. It is, undoubtedly, the most important social and economic consequence of extreme poverty and the most relevant topic in international, political, economic and social discourse today. The Focus On section of this report is dedicated to this very issue, with the following conclusions: environmental, food and migration sustainability are different facets of a single problem whose solution requires an integrated, informed approach “from governments, businesses, citizens and scientists”. Food sustainability, that is, the right for every person on the planet to have enough food that is both of good quality and consistently available, is a key factor to success.