Brief: Nutrition and Climate Change A Complex Interplay That Requires Integrated Solutions

Overview & Synopsis

At its core, climate change has the potential to exacerbate malnutrition through a complex web of pathways. The increasingly unpredictable weather patterns associated with climate change, including events like droughts and floods, affect each and every step of the food supply chain, from production to retail, thus reducing food accessibility and availability. Both climate shocks and elevated temperatures, a hallmark of climate change, can directly harm food production systems, affecting both producers' livelihoods (most often women) and consumers' access to quality food.i The elevated greenhouse gas driving climate change can directly diminish the nutritional content of food, reducing protein, mineral, and B-vitamin concentrations in crops. Future projections paint a bleak picture of reduced nutrient availability, with vulnerable populations, especially women and children, bearing the brunt of the consequences, and threatening global health and socio-economic development