Family Life

11.16.09 | FL News Team

There's little hope for the world's poorest farmers if no global climate change deal is in the works. That's the grim outlook from the United Nations at its world food summit, which opened today in Rome. The conference is supposed to address how to help developing nations grow enough food. But leaders of all the G-8 countries except Italy have skipped the conference, leaving only the heads of Latin American and African nations. Those countries are the hardest hit by global climate change, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where agriculture still largely depends on rain.

The UN says Africa, Asia and Latin America could see a drop of 20-to-40 percent of their food crops with just a two-degree rise in temperatures. World leaders are expected to gather in Copenhagen next month for a climate change summit but have put off a binding pact until next year. Similarly, the food summit will conclude on Wednesday with no firm action planned. Instead, a resolution set for a vote today includes only a vague promise to pour an unspecified amount of money by some unnamed date into more food aid. It's also been watered down to call for an end to malnutrition "at the earliest possible date."