2019 was another tough year for the environment [Castelvecchi et al. 2019] Up to one million plant and animal species now face extinction owing to habitat destruction and/or climate change, warns a recently published report of the Intergovernmental Science–Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The overwhelming evidence of the IPBES Global Assessment, from
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Last month a group of “prominent” scientists sent a registered letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The letter, headed “There is no climate emergency”, urges Guterres to follow a climate policy based on sound science, realistic economics and genuine concern for those harmed by costly but unnecessary attempts at mitigation “. Climate Intelligence
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In October 2015, 22 scientists from 10 countries met at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) to evaluate the carcinogenicity of red meat and processed meat consumption. Their alarming conclusions were published in volume 114 of the IARC Monographs: consumption of processed meat is classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) on the
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Philosopher and Emeritus Professor of the University of Wageningen, Michiel Korthals, claims in his book Goed eten – Filosofie van voeding en landbouw [2018] that our food has lost its innocence; and in August, the New York Times published “Our food is killing too many of us”. This creates serious concerns about the safety of
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After a decade of steady decline, the number of people suffering from hunger in the world has been slowly increasing for several years in a row It is a bad trend, World Food Program boss, David Beasley, said during a press conference at United Nations (UN) headquarters. He warned: Without food security, we will never
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Contrary to the dystopian future drained of humanity that is imagined by many, the combined force of Personalised Optimisation and Farming Impossible Environments carve a path for how we can cut food waste, bring deserts back to life and celebrate our humanity through the act of eating. This will bring about a renaissance of planet
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Here is something to think about. Several studies have shown that current trends in yield improvement will not be sufficient to meet the global food demand by 2050. They suggest that a further expansion of agricultural area will be required. Agriculture however is a main driver of biodiversity losses and a major contributor to climate
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The current and traditional linear extract-produce-use-and-dump material and energy flow model of the modern economic system is anything but sustainable. In a linear system companies make products and the consumers use and dispose. Thus, the material flow is understood as the conceptual logic of value creation, with only virgin material entering the flow. Such a
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… Everything that has built modern human society is provided by nature and, increasingly, research demonstrates the natural world’s incalculable importance to our health, wealth, food and security… [Grooten & Almond 2018]. The World Wildlife Fund has released its annual Living Planet Report and it makes quite a depressing read. Wildlife populations, including mammals,
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This Latin expression ⎯ nihil novi sub sole, there is nothing new under the sun ⎯ appeared in the Vulgate Bible phrase, now in Ecclesiastes 1:9. I add a question mark to the quote. Rachel Carson (1907 – 1964) was an American marine biologist, author, and conservationist whose writings are credited with advancing the global
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