Sustainability & Climate Change
Food production needs are expected to roughly double over the next 35 years as the world population grows and people in under developed countries become more affluent and demand more calories. Healthy ecosystems are vital to the survival of all organisms. How can we grow crops without harming the environment? How can we balance technology and global food security? What is the right balance of organic and conventional farming? What role can genetics and biotechnology play without compromising the needs of tomorrow?
Below is the complete archive of related articles sorted by date.
Viewpoint: Environmental Working Group on the wrong side of science with simplistic attack on animal agriculture’s impact on climate
With Christmas just around the corner, you're probably finalizing your dinner plans and wrapping those last few presents before sticking ...
Viewpoint: With more than 70 countries producing GM foods, it’s time to get beyond tired debate over technology and embrace innovation
Transgenics began nearly three decades ago in world agriculture with the aim of increasing agricultural productivity. In other words, produce ...
How can we produce more food with less environmental impact: Book review of ‘The Economics of Sustainable Food’
Aimed at the army of advocates, activists, and policymakers engaged with food and agricultural politics, [Nicoletta] Batini hopes that The ...
A second Green Revolution: How gene editing could revolutionize photosynthesis and transform agriculture
Stephen Long is a professor of plant biology and crop sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the director ...
‘It will be a wonderful day when these potatoes get into the hands of farmers’: Uganda develops genetically engineered disease-resistant version of the country’s most important crop
Late potato blight is the most destructive potato disease in the world costing developing countries USD 10 billion every year. This CIP@50 story digs into a new rapid-fire approach to potato breeding that makes farmer-favorite ...
Viewpoint: Regenerative farming modeled on organic agriculture could reduce greenhouse gas emissions, pro-organic study claims
A recent study by Bain & Company and Nature United, the Canadian affiliate organization of the Nature Conservancy, shows that transitioning to regenerative farming techniques ...
Viewpoint: Engineering biology — Which agricultural innovations are driving sustainability?
“Canada is one of a few global net exporters of food and a leader in sustainable production; agri-innovation is driving ...
UN Food and Agriculture Organization notes worsening soil and water health, says agri-food systems could help reverse trend
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) [December 9] launched a landmark report highlighting the worsening state ...
Scientists seize ‘once in a decade’ opportunity to advocate for genetically engineered trees
Nearly 700 scientists from across the globe have signed a petition urging the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to allow genetically engineered ...
Viewpoint: ‘Agriculture is the only carbon emitting sector with the potential to become a net emissions sink’
Of the major emitting sectors, agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) is currently the only one with serious potential ...
Viewpoint: ‘The strength of US agriculture is that we have many diverse production systems’ — How organic agriculture and biotechnology can coexist
The debate about GMO safety and sustainability is ongoing, but one fact remains: food security is paramount. Does the absence ...
Gene editing and agriculture: Challenges and opportunities to significantly address climate change
Excess emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from human activities have accumulated in the atmosphere at levels sufficient to disrupt global ...
Nigeria needs biotechnology to weather climate change impacts on farming, say West African scientists
Agricultural biotechnology will help Nigeria respond to climate change issues and support food security, asserts a new study by West ...
4 million tons of rice is destroyed each year to flooding in Southeast Asia. This genetically-engineered rice variety could limit losses
Global rice production will likely be hit by the devastating effects of climate change as early as 2030, according to ...
No bones, no scales, no waste: Is that enough to convince consumers to eat cultured, cell-based seafood?
Cell-based seafood—derived from commonly consumed fish (for example, salmon and tuna) or shellfish (for example, crustaceans such as shrimp and ...
Viewpoint: ‘Plant breeding innovations help ramp up food production while making farms more climate resilient, profitable, and environmentally friendly’
One in four people globally, and rising, are unable to afford a healthy diet. COVID-19 has exacerbated this trend by disrupting food ...
Microbes as sustainable fuel: A better way to make chemicals currently derived from oil and gas
A team of chemists from the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Minnesota has now engineered microbes to ...
Animal-free real dairy products are beginning to roll out
General Mills moves into the emerging ‘animal-free’ dairy category with a brand called Bold Cultr – a lactose-free cream cheese ...
Viewpoint: By blocking CRISPR gene editing, Europe is rejecting a proven tool to address climate change and food insecurity
CRISPR technology is not the same as GMO technology; it does not introduce DNA from other species into plants. Yet ...
Viewpoint: By failing to endorse carbon-cutting biotechnology innovations, Glasgow climate summit missed ‘low hanging fruit’
Although verdicts vary, and some progress was clearly made, the climate change consensus emerging among scientists post-Glasgow is that the world continues on a path ...
Viewpoint: Why Thailand should rethink its opposition to biotechnology
Thailand needs a "new mindset" to adopt controversial genetically modified organism (GMO) technology to increase agricultural productivity and serve the ...
Video: World Settlement Footprint offers unique perspective on human urbanization and ecological danger spots
Urban areas are already home to 55% of the world's population and that figure is expected to grow to 68% ...
Viewpoint: ‘An environmental activist-driven narrative spun by a small population of privileged zealots is presently shaping global climate and agricultural policy’
As the COP26 winds down and the world leaders, delegates and activists all head home, it is time for the ...
GMO crops and glyphosate use can offer carbon sequestration benefits, Canadian study suggests
University of Saskatchewan research has concluded that genetically modified canola and the use of glyphosate have increased carbon sequestration in ...
Kenya’s insect-resistant GMO cotton embrace boosts farmers’ yields and cuts down on chemical use
In 2018, President Uhuru Kenyatta under his Big Four Agenda made an announcement... allowing the cultivation of Genetically Modified cotton ...
Endangered rice: Key crop provides 25% of global calories, but rising temperatures threaten long-term viability
For much of the developing world, rice is a key to human survival. But at the same time, climate change ...
Viewpoint on sustainable fishing: Oft-maligned aquaculture offers range of environmental and production benefits
With the U.S. importing 90 percent of the seafood we eat, it’s clear that wild capture fisheries alone can’t meet ...
