Acute shocks to global food systems and a warming climate make for a terrifying and explosive combination. We are seeing the consequences play out right now, as the war in Ukraine will almost certainly trigger a global food crisis with catastrophic consequences for the most vulnerable.

Ukraine and Russia are both agricultural powerhouses that together account for nearly a third of global wheat and barley exports. Forty-five African and least developed countries import at least a third of their wheat from Ukraine or Russia, and 18 of those countries import more than half. If the war drags on, Egypt and other countries could face food shortages as soon as this summer, triggering what the UN Secretary-General has warned could become “a hurricane of hunger and a meltdown of the global food system.”

Then there’s climate change. One of the most alarming findings in the recent series of reports issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is that the climate crisis will increasingly undermine food security and nutrition around the world. The IPCC’s report on climate impacts confirmed that floods, droughts, storms, and other extreme climate events have already exposed millions to acute food insecurity and malnutrition.

Perhaps most ominously, the IPCC warns that climate extremes will increase the risk of simultaneous crop losses in major food-producing regions, with potentially devastating consequences for food prices and availability.

This is our new reality: a gradually worsening situation for food and nutrition as temperatures relentlessly rise. It’s a frightening backdrop for the world’s geopolitical and economic developments — any crisis in a critical food-producing area could spell disaster on a global scale.

While it’s likely too late to prevent a food crisis in Ukraine, we can help those who are suffering now while working to aggressively reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build resilience to future food shocks.

Read the full article about the global food crisis at United Nations Foundation.