Climate impacts on UK food

One of the most important challenges of the 21st Century will be producing enough food whilst adapting to the changing climate and simultaneously reducing the environmental impact of the food system. This review considers the risk that climate change poses to the UK’s food supply, highlighting potatoes, olive oil and rice as examples of key imports heavily impacted by climate change. It also considers how the impacts of climate change can be compounded, when extreme weather conditions occur across multiple producing countries simultaneously, reducing overall global production and increasing the risk of multiple breadbasket failure, sometimes exacerbating food price inflation. In the UK, agri-environment schemes aim to support food production whilst protecting and enhancing the natural environment, and have the potential to enhance the climate resilience of UK production. International Climate Finance is one mechanism to support overseas food production, but wider sources of funding could be adapted and directed to have a strong strategic focus on building adaptation and resilience.