A quarter of the products found in UK shopping baskets are at risk disappearing from supermarket shelves due to the impacts of climate change.
Bananas, grapes, avocados, coffee and tea sit highest in the firing line, according to the research from Christian Aid, which found that a significant number of fruit, vegetables, pulses and meat lines — 22%, 23%, and 15%, respectively — are imported from countries which are particularly at risk of climate change.
More broadly, eight out of the UK’s top 25 import trade partners are countries with high climate vulnerability and low climate readiness. These include Brazil, South Africa, India, Vietnam, Peru, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire and Kenya – where the UK imports the majority of its tea from.
The authors warn that further warming would mean more harvest-destroying extreme weather events, leaving consumers facing more price rises and empty shelves.
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The research comes weeks after National Farmers’ Union president Minette Batters urged the government to take domestic food production seriously as climate change is “wreaks” global food production.
Earlier this year, UK supermarkets saw fruit and vegetable shelves empty due to drought in Spain and Morocco.
UCL professor of global change science Simon Lewis said: “Disruption of food supplies is a real and growing risk in the UK.
“Everything we do to cut our emissions in the UK, including not licencing new oil and gas projects, reduces the level of the coming chaos. The UK paying to help poorer countries adapt to climate change also increases our security.”
