A global panel of scientists representing more than 130 nations [recently] released the summary of their Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, containing dire warnings about rapidly declining biodiversity worldwide and the adverse impacts it will have on human wellbeing.
The report highlights five major ways in which humans are driving these declines in biodiversity and ecosystem services over the last 50 years – changes in land and sea use, direct exploitation of organisms, climate change, pollution, and invasion of alien species.
All these activities are closely interlinked with food systems, and the report itself notes that “feeding the world in a sustainable manner entails the transformation of food systems.”
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Greater investments are needed in research and development of technologies and practices …. such as remote-sensing technology that promotes optimal fertilizer use or ecologically-based pest management, to reduce the negative impacts agriculture has on biodiversity and our environment …. Alternative proteins, such as lab-grown meat can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and the overexploitation of resources; gene editing can improve seeds so they produce more crops and boost the nutritional value of crops ….
Read full, original article: OPINION: How to transform food systems to feed the world and prevent mass extinctions
