Since November, the Earth’s population has officially exceeded 8 billion, more than three times its number in 1950. While food and energy needs threaten the planet’s resources and climate, the number is expected to approach ten billion (9.7 billion) people in the middle of the century, according to forecasts. United nations.
“Personally, I don’t think it’s sustainable,” John Kerry said in an interview with AFP in Oslo. “We have to figure out how to deal with the issue of sustainability and how many people we have to take care of on the planet.”
The Earth’s temperature has risen by about 1.2°C since the pre-industrial era, leaving very little room for achieving the Paris Agreement’s target of limiting warming to 1.5°C.
Just feeding the 8 billion people currently generates more than a quarter of the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change: about 40 percent from livestock and food waste, and the remainder related to rice production, fertilizer use, land conversion and deforestation.
Climate change, in turn, complicates food production through droughts, floods and other extreme weather events.
“I’ve been to a number of African countries where they are very proud of their high birth rates, but the truth is that this is not sustainable today, let alone in the future,” John Kerry said.
“I’m not advocating population reduction. I think … we have to respect life, but we can do it better in many ways,” said Kerry, 79.
No dictates
Part of the climate effort involves changing habits such as avoiding air travel, consuming less meat and improving home insulation.
According to a report published by the Norwegian Environment Agency on Friday, this country’s emissions can be reduced by 4.5 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent during the period between 2024-2030 if the population of 5.5 million people respects dietary recommendations.
One of the main factors is the commitment to eating less than 500 grams of red meat per week.
Despite researchers warning of a severe depletion of resources from the diet prevalent in countries such as Brazil and the United States, Kerry refuses to call on his countrymen to eat less hamburgers.
“I think it’s up to the people to choose for themselves… but what I recommend is changing our practices in how we feed the cattle,” the US official said in this regard.
“There are many new technologies and regenerative farming practices today: all kinds of agricultural materials can be produced with minimal damage to the land and less consumption of resources,” he added.
The former Secretary of State during Barack Obama’s presidency, and the defeated candidate in the 2004 presidential election against George W. Bush, rejects the daily changes dictated by the authorities.
“I don’t think lifestyle sacrifices should be required in order to achieve what needs to be achieved,” he said.
“We can lead a better lifestyle, eat better food and feed more people if we stop wasting so much food. There are so many options out there without having to say: we are going to force you to do something.”
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