Pope Francis' encyclical on climate change can affect the global conversation on poverty, hunger, and undernutrition

June 16, 2015, Washington, D.C.—In light of Pope Francis' encyclical on climate change, IFPRI Director General Shenggen Fan has issued a statement calling on the international community to use this opportunity to focus on the effects of climate change on poverty, hunger, and undernutrition.

For too many of the world’s poorest people, a result of the Earth’s shifting temperatures will be felt in the stomach alongside increased risks to poor nutrition. Hunger and undernutrition are very real, but often overlooked, consequences of climate change in developing countries. It is a reality that is likely to continue without a concerted world effort to combat the devastating effects of changing temperatures. IFPRI’s research shows that even as the world’s population increases, many crop yields will actually decrease by up to 25 percent in the next 35 years due to climate change, undermining efforts to end poverty, hunger, and undernutrition.

I welcome the call by Pope Francis to cast climate change as one of the most important moral imperatives of our time—this comes in addition to his call last year to end global hunger by 2025. The developmental and economic damage that comes from prolonged hunger and undernutrition can have negative effects for years to come.

Shenggen Fan, Director General
International Food Policy Research Institute

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The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) seeks sustainable solutions for ending hunger and poverty. IFPRI was established in 1975 to identify and analyze alternative national and international strategies and policies for meeting the food needs of the developing world, with particular emphasis on low-income countries and on the poorer groups in those countries. www.ifpri.org.