UN: Right to Food Threatened by Climate Crisis

The UN human rights chief Volker Türk warned Monday that the impact of the climate crisis is threatening the right to food.

He emphasized how Climate change and extreme weather events are contributing to a wide range of health and food security risks around the world.

Speaking at the 53rd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Türk said: "Our topic this morning is the right to food, and clearly this is comprehensively threatened by climate change. Extreme weather events, and both sudden and gradual disasters caused by climate change, wipe out crops, herds, fisheries and entire ecosystems."

"Their repetition makes it impossible for communities to rebuild and support themselves," he pointed out.

The UN human rights chief also noted that 828 million people faced hunger in 2021, adding that the crisis is projected to place up to 80 million more at risk by the middle of this century.

He further called for an end to subsidies to the fossil fuel industry to deliver a liveable future to the next generations.