Ag Policy Blog

As G7 agricultural and foreign ministers gather to meet this week in Germany, 26 World Food Prize laureates sent a letter calling on the G7 to address rising global hunger, climate change and conflict.

Despite reductions in world hunger in the last several decades, the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed progress, with over 800 million people now hungry or malnourished. Climate change and conflict further exacerbate this devastating trend, the laureates wrote.

The laureates, a mix of scientists and food-policy experts, published an open letter "to set the world back on track," calling for the G7 "to urgently leverage food systems to tackle these issues."

The World Food Prize, based in Des Moines, Iowa, recognizes people and institutions that focus on reducing global hunger. The group was founded to honor 1970 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Norman Borlaug, a wheat breeder who sparked the Green Revolution. The World Food Prize just earlier this week named the 2022 World Food Prize recipient. https://www.dtnpf.com/…

In their open letter, the 26 WFP laureates highlighted some of the challenges that have reversed the gains made in the past 30 years to reduce world hunger.

"Tragically, COVID-19, climate change and conflict have begun to turn back the clock on this stellar progress, with over 800 million now hungry or malnourished. COVID-19 has led directly to 6 million deaths, and millions more have died from the increased hunger, malnutrition and poverty caused by COVID-related economic disruptions," the letter stated. "Even before the pandemic began, climate change was disrupting the business of growing food (and income) for the world's increasing population. Conflict in Africa, Asia, Latin America and now Europe is exacerbating these negative trends, driving up the price of food and energy, blocking trade in farming inputs and outputs, isolating vulnerable populations, and generating huge increases in refugee flows. These three factors – COVID-19, Climate and Conflict – combine to form a toxic brew which, in the absence of decisive, bold action and investment, will dramatically increase the numbers of children, women and men living with – and dying from – hunger. The World Food Programme estimates that 45 million people are now living on the edge of famine. Underlying inequities in development and food systems exacerbate the impacts of all three factors for the world's poor."

The laureates called on the heads of the G7 governments "to agree at this year's G7 Summit on a shared global strategy to reverse the increase in world hunger; address the triple threat of COVID, climate change and conflict; and invest to achieve the G7 2015 Elmau Commitment of lifting 500 million people out of hunger and malnutrition by 2050. We are grateful to see that you have put these issues high on your agenda this year, and we call for G7 leadership to put us back on track toward the end of hunger and malnutrition."

The letter also called on governments to honor their pledges to the Paris accords, especially the "4 per 1000" carbon storage agreement. The 4 by 1000 initiative is meant to focus on land and sustainable soil management.

The laureates also asked the G7 to provide more humanitarian relief and assistance with agricultural development to address hunger.

To read the full letter, please visit: https://www.worldfoodprize.org/…

-Chris Clayton

Commodity Futures Trading Commission Announces Voluntary Carbon Markets Hearing

Rostin Behnam, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has announced a June 2 "convening" to discuss voluntary carbon markets.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss issues related to the supply and demand for high-quality carbon offsets, including product standardization and the data necessary to support the integrity of carbon offsets' greenhouse gas emissions avoidance and reduction claims. Panelists will also discuss issues related to the market structure for trading carbon offsets and carbon derivatives as well as perspectives on the challenges and opportunities in these markets.

"As companies increasingly turn to the derivatives markets to manage risk and keep pace with global efforts to decarbonize, I look forward to the CFTC's facilitating these discussions," said Behnam in prepared remarks for the International Swaps and Derivatives meeting in Madrid. "Our goal is to foster innovation in crafting solutions to the climate crisis while ensuring integrity and customer protection.

"The further goal of the convening is to gather information from a variety of market participants in the voluntary carbon markets to better understand the potential role of the official sector in these markets, particularly as we see the emergence of CFTC-regulated derivatives referencing cash offset markets. The convening will include participants from carbon offset standard setting bodies, a carbon registry, private sector integrity initiatives, spot platforms, designated contract markets, intermediaries, end-users, public interest groups, and others."

The convening will be held in the conference center at CFTC's headquarters at Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st St. NW, Washington, beginning at 9:30 a.m. for participants only. Participants will also have an option to participate virtually. In accordance with the agency's implementation of COVID-19 precautions, the general public will have access to the convening by webcast on the CFTC's website or may also listen by telephone.

CFTC announces Voluntary Carbon Markets Convening https://www.cftc.gov/…

Keynote address of Chairman Rostin Behnam at the ISDA 36th annual General Meeting https://www.cftc.gov/…

-Jerry Hagstrom

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

Follow him on Twitter @ChrisClaytonDTN

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