COP-eration for global food security

F1000Res. 2016 Dec 5:5:2814. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.10323.1. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Mexico is hosting the 13th Conference of the Parts (COP-13) on the Convention on Biological Diversity. Participants will have another opportunity to "integrate biodiversity for wellbeing." Considering that food production is a major driver for the loss of biological diversity, despite the fact that ample genetic reservoirs are crucial for the persistence of agriculture in a changing world, food can be a conduit for bringing biodiversity into people's minds and government agendas. If this generation is going to "live in harmony with nature," as the Aichi Biodiversity Targets indicate, such an integration needs to be developed between the agricultural and environmental sectors throughout the world, especially as an increasingly urban civilization severs its cultural connections to food origin.

Keywords: Biodiversity; COP-13; food justice; global environmental change; human development; planetary boundaries; sustainability.

Grants and funding

This work was conceived and drafted while the author held a generous Fulbright NEXUS Fellowship (2014-2016), and was completed under the generous support of the Dirección General del Personal Académico, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (PAPIIT IN205616).