There were many areas on unanimous agreement throughout the conference however some topics raised were slightly more polarizing.
For example, Mark Howden highlighted that some areas of the world that are likely to be worst effected by climate change are home to the poorest communities. It has been show that some environments react faster to climate change i.e., the Arctic and Antarctic as well as inland areas along the equator (Fig.1).
The people in these areas subsequently suffer from malnutrition for a multitude of reasons; the direct effect of climate extremes on crops and livestock, the ability to work in such conditions, not having access to technologies and innovations that developed countries do. One point raised by Sinead Mowlds which I found particularly interesting was that Ireland is a huge exporter of milk and milk powder to West Africa (Fig. 2), Ireland being a country whose farmers are in receipt of government subsidies and are outpricing the local primary producers in Africa. I think that this is highly unfair and is an issue which must be addressed, highlighting the need yet again for global communication and cooperation.
Sinead also highlighted the issue of obesity and the high prevalence of it within society. Famers are not receiving high enough prices for their products given what it takes to produce them, however there is the issue of highly processed and junk food options remaining cheap and therefore being the only option for many households. A shift in what food is readily available to people needs to happen in order to tackle this issue but, as mentioned by a few speakers, food is emotive and can be a sensitive topic making this issue more difficult to navigate.