2 days ago
Podcast: Climate change 'has arrived' on our dinner plates
The cost of your weekly shop is increasing due to the accelerating impact of climate change across the globe, an expert has warned.
Lecturer in Sustainability at TU Dublin Dr Ciarán O'Carroll told the Behind the Story podcast a new report found a "clear link" between the impacts of climate change, severe weather events and the price of food.
"The cost of human-driven climate change is now on our dinner plates," he told hosts Louise Byrne and Fiona Mitchell.
"Every time we get a cup of coffee - every time we're getting the staples [like] bread, veg, pesto – there's a cost in there of climate change that we are paying.
He was speaking as hundreds of firefighters are battling to put out wildfires across southern Europe.
Dr O'Carroll said such scenes are "unfortunately the new normal".
"Europe is heating at about twice as fast [as] the global average," he explained.
"We're the fastest heating continent; but we're not making the changes we need to see yet."
New data from the European Commission shows the extent of the damage, with 439,568 hectares burnt since the beginning of the year.
Last year in the same period the area burnt was 187,643 hectares.
Dr O'Carroll said these wildfires have a bigger impact than some people may realise.
"Although right now we're kind of the cusp of a heatwave but we're not seeing the extreme wildfires [that are] throughout Europe, this does really have a big impact on us," he said.
"We import about 80% of our calories – we are not a food secure nation.
"So, when we have extreme weather events – whether it be coffee in Brazil, olive oil in Europe, the UK with potato prices, chocolate prices [in] Ghana and the Ivory Coast – that all feeds into the price of our shops".
Dr O'Carroll said the price of cocoa has seen a big increase.
"Cocoa/chocolate is a really good example of what's happening to our food supply prices at the moment," he said.
"For a very long time it was around $2,000 per tonne [for] 10 to 12 years.
"But since 2023 it shot up to $12,000 per tonne: that's a huge jump".
Dr O'Carroll said solving the problem comes down to better equity for society.
"If there's a commonality in so many of the issues our societies face it's inequality – a minority of people having far more money and resource than the majority of people," he said.
"If we're going to solve problems like climate change, we need a far more equitable society - whereby far more money, which is currently going to the highest earners, in fact goes to benefit wider society and wider societal needs".
