Climate Change

Implications for
Global Food
Safety

Vittorio Fattori PhD

Food Systems and Food Safety Division, FAO, Rome
Changing
Food
Systems:
more
complexities
in Food
Safety…
 According to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),
Climate Change refers to a

‘change of climate (global temperatures,

precipitations, wind patterns and other
measures of climate) that is attributed
directly or indirectly to human activity that
alters the composition of the global
atmosphere and that is in addition to natural
climate variability observed over
comparable time periods’

Image source: Leiserowitz, A., Maibach, E., Roser-Renouf, C., Feinberg, G. & Rosenthal, S. (2015) Global Warming’s Six Americas, March 2015. Yale University and George Mason University. New Haven, CT: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
 Food and Agriculture in relation to Climate Change

• According to a recent IPCC report, if • In developing countries, up to 83% of

temperatures rise by 1.5 °C above all damage and loss caused by
pre-industrial levels this century, drought, which climate change is
122 million additional people could expected to intensify, is absorbed by
experience extreme poverty by agriculture
2030, mainly due to higher food
prices and declining health

• Currently, one-third of the food we

• Between 2006 and 2016, 26% of the produce is lost or wasted. This costs up
total damage and loss caused by to USD 2.6 trillion per year, including
climate-related disasters in USD 700 billion in environmental costs
developing countries was in the and USD 900 billion in social costs
agriculture sector

• Climate change is expected to bring additional burdens on water systems,

intensifying competition for water, affecting regional water, energy, fisheries
and food security, as well as affecting public health

Data Source: FAO’s work on Climate Change, UNCCC 2018 Image Source: Your questions about food and climate change, answered, The New York Times, 2019
Climate Food Security & Food Safety are Interlinked
change and
food safety
impacts

2008 2020

While the impacts of climate change on food security are well known, the implications for food
safety receive less attention
• Evidence to link increasing temperatures to higher incidences of infections
by foodborne pathogens like Salmonella spp. and Campylobacter spp.

• Water scarcity can have an impact on hygienic conditions in food processing

plants

• Flooding leading to increased likelihood of outbreaks of

waterborne diseases like cholera

Antimicrobial Resistance – a growing threat

Climate change is enabling various species that form harmful algal blooms
(HABs) to expand to new areas, most of which are not prepared to meet
the challenges associated with their detection and surveillance
The frequency and duration of certain endemic HABs have increased globally

• An overabundance of fertilizer application combined with more

frequent and intense precipitation are leading to increased
eutrophication in waterbodies, resulting in algal blooms

• Reports on the effects of ocean acidification on HAB toxicity and CO2

abundance are not uniform

• Warming temperatures widen the seasonal windows for certain

HABs, enabling them to persist for longer periods
 • Heavy precipitation events, especially in mining areas, can release
various heavy metals into the surrounding areas, compromising food and
water quality

• Accelerated permafrost thawing may release historically trapped heavy

metals, such as arsenic, into aquatic ecosystems, compromising aquatic
life and the safety of freshwater supplies

• Rice – a major crop known to take

up and bioaccumulate arsenic from
the soil or irrigation water

• Arsenic accumulates not only in the

plant itself but also in the grain that
is consumed
The concentration of mercury present in the ocean surfaces has increased
by a factor of three or more compared with pre-anthropogenic conditions

• Methylation of mercury is temperature-dependent

• Thawing of permafrost releases mercury into aquatic systems

• Deposition of inorganic mercury in lakes and oceans enhanced with

increased precipitation

CO2 • Lowering pH values increases the microbial uptake of mercury in

the oceans
Mycotoxin contamination in staple crops is a major health concern and barrier to
international trade

Altered distribution of toxigenic fungi and the appearance of mycotoxins in crops

• Increases in temperatures may shift the types of mycotoxins produced by

any given fungal species, from those that are currently dominant to other
related compounds

• Flooding, after heavy precipitation and extreme weather events,

affects storage facilities and standing crops, increasing the risks
related to mycotoxins

• Plants stressed by pest damage are more predisposed to fungal infections

 Food Safety in the face of Climate Change Requires Shared Solutions

Greater collaboration among stakeholders

Intelligence gathering and foresight

One Health approach

Early warning and surveillance systems

 Conclusions
Safe and nutritious food is the prerequisite for human life and development
• There can be no food security without food safety and climate change threatens both

We need to stay vigilant: food safety requires continued commitment

• More attention is needed to raise awareness of climate change implications for food safety
• More efforts are needed to adequately prepare food supply chains and regulatory systems for the various food safety challenges
associated with climate change

The future of food safety will require proactive and forward-looking approaches rather than relying on reactive measures
• Complementing traditional surveillance systems, foresight will help identify and address emerging food safety issues like those triggered
by climate change
• Climate change impacts on food safety is a transdisciplinary issue that needs solutions driven by One Health-based approaches

Continued support is necessary: we all need to care

Food Safety is everyone’s business

Thank you