Climate Mitigation and Hidden Vulnerabilities: Widening the Food Gap Between the Global North and South

Abstract

This study used the United Kingdom and feed barley as case example to highlight the potential of climate mitigation policies in the global north to create food vulnerabilities in the global south or widen the food gap between the global north and south. Future UK feed barley supply was assessed under the influence of projected climate change, climate mitigation policy scenarios, and population growth. The results showed that land-based climate mitigation policies reduced land area for barley and created large deficits in supply. Using Algeria and Tunisia as exemplar global south countries that rely on barley supply from the United Kingdom and Europe for food and feed, the article concludes that pursuit of land-based mitigation policies, in the global north, which reduce the production of globally important food security crops, can create or amplify food vulnerabilities in the global south. Tunisia's imports, for example, are about 290% of domestic production. These countries need feed barley to maintain high domestic animal production for food and religious needs, which limit meat imports. The asymmetries in technical, economic, and political power between the global north and south imply that the latter could be outcompeted. In serving the climate justice principle of “equitable sharing of burdens and benefits,” the article argues that climate mitigation policies should address (not amplify) the uneven geographical and social impacts of climate change. This principle should be integral to the appraisal of public policies and actions on land-based climate mitigation policies and prioritized in climate justice discourse in a genuine global cooperative framework. This is as urgent as the need for climate mitigation action.