Big Ag is Sabotaging Progress on Climate Change

Grim as the UN’s latest climate report is, it doesn’t confront the dangerous, government-hijacking power of agribusiness.

Originally Published on Wired, August 28, 2019

Agrochemical giant Monsanto, which already sells half of Malawi’s commercial corn seeds, is trying to prevent farmers from saving seeds from their last harvests. EDDIE GERALD/GETTY IMAGES

The latest UN climate report has made waves in the food world. "Climate Change Threatens the World's Food Supply" blared the New York Times. Focused on "Climate Change and Land," the report is a welcome reminder of just how destructive our current food and agricultural policies are to the land, and how that both contributes to climate change (23% of global greenhouse gas emissions) and threatens the natural resource base on which current and future food production depends. Based on my research for Eating Tomorrow, I offer my take on the report in Wired magazine: "Climate experts have sounded yet another dire alarm, this time aimed straight at our stomachs. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest report, on “Climate Change and Land,” warns that meeting the challenges of our climate crisis requires urgent changes in our food systems. ...Grim as it is, the report may be overly optimistic because it doesn’t sufficiently address the power of agribusinesses...." (...read the article at Wired ...)