From rice to coffee, cocoa to olive oil, extreme weather conditions are driving up the prices of staple foods around the globe, adding new inflationary pressures to a world already strained by the pandemic, wars, and fiscal adjustment policies. This is the finding of a study conducted by several European institutions, including Germany’s Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, which analyzed 16 food items in 18 countries whose prices soared between 2022 and 2024 due to heavy rains, droughts, or extreme heat.
The data confirms what consumers have been experiencing firsthand at the grocery store. Coffee is one example: global prices rose by 55% in August 2024, a direct consequence of drought in Brazil the previous year … Olive oil prices climbed 50% following prolonged drought in Italy and Spain. Cocoa prices soared by 280% due to heatwaves in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, the world’s largest producers.
It is increasingly clear that strategies to address food insecurity must go hand in hand with efforts to confront the climate emergency and biodiversity loss.
Share this article
