The United Nations warns that 2021 could be catastrophic due to the consequences of Covid-19 and famine

Misery loves company. In the case of Covid-19, that undertaking includes unemployment, economic turmoil, and famine. And they are about to knock on the door.

“2021 will be literally catastrophic based on what we are seeing at this stage of the game,” World Food Program (WFP) head David Beasley told the United Nations General Assembly on Friday.

The world famine is “knocking at the door”, he warns.

And Australia and New Zealand are likely to be affected. The warning signs are already there.

Out-of-season foods have become scarce on supermarket shelves.

International trade has been disrupted and Australia and New Zealand’s ability to exploit cheap international labor has also been stifled, leaving many of our crops at risk of rotting in the fields.

However, the situation is much more serious in Africa and South America. And that could trigger global shortages and economic shock waves.

Beasley says that 2021 would probably be “the worst year of humanitarian crisis since the beginning of the United Nations … As I say, the iceberg is facing the Titanic.”

Covid butcher shop

Beasley supported an appeal for $ 35 billion in financial aid to address a 40% increase in the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance.

“We are not going to be able to fund everything … so we have to prioritize,” he told news.com.au.

The impending “carnage” was “almost entirely Covid-19,” added UN emergency aid chief Mark Lowcock.

It was the final straw for people already recovering from conflict, social unrest and the impacts of climate change. As a result, he said, “multiple” famines are looming.

“The picture we present is the bleakest and bleakest outlook on humanitarian needs in the period to come that we have ever established. That is a reflection of the fact that the Covid pandemic has caused carnage in all the most fragile and vulnerable countries. on the planet, “Lowcock said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs predicts that a record 235 million people will need humanitarian assistance and protection next year. This year, that number was 170 million.

Lowcock warns that the “obscene” possibility of a world famine in 2021 would inevitably lead to wars and civil unrest.

UN Secretary General António Guterres urged the world to “support the people in their darkest hour of need.”

Covid had produced “new peaks of conflict in places that were previously more peaceful. We have seen that obviously recently in Nagorno-Karabakh, we have seen it in northern Mozambique, we have seen it in Western Sahara and right now obviously, tragically, We are seeing it in northern Ethiopia, “he said.

“We are overwhelmed by problems.”

Food fight

Fire. Drought. Flood. All are emphasizing crops and gardens from China to South America.
An obvious sign of growing food stress is the way China’s fishing fleets are moving far away. But that’s just the most obvious indicator of the stress on ocean fish populations.

Overfishing is also a problem for Australia and New Zealand. And that is reflected in the prices and the reliability of supply.

“For example, research in 2018 showed that large fish species were rapidly declining around nations due to excessive fishing pressure. In areas open to fishing, exploited populations declined by an average of 33 percent in the decade to 2015, “a recent analysis finds the struggling Pacific fishing industry.

“The collapse of fisheries around the world shows how vulnerable our marine life is. It is clear that humans are exploiting the oceans beyond sustainable levels. Billions of people depend on seafood for protein and their livelihoods. But by allowing overfishing to continue, we harm not just the oceans, but ourselves. “

Climate catastrophe

“The state of the planet is broken,” warns the UN Secretary General, António Guterres. “This is suicidal.”

He was emphasizing the implications of 2020 being one of the three warmest years on record. It was only half a degree from the “limit” imposed by the Paris Climate Agreement. And that temperature limit is likely to be broken in 2024.

“Apocalyptic fires and floods, cyclones and hurricanes are increasingly the new normal,” he said.

The social and economic consequences can already be seen around the world, he said. But it’s disasters that make the headlines.

“In 2020, more than 50 million people were doubly affected: by weather-related disasters (floods, droughts, and storms) and the Covid-19 pandemic,” states a report by the World Meteorological Organization. Central American countries are suffering the triple impact of hurricanes Eta and Iota, Covid-19 and pre-existing humanitarian crises.

Australia has experienced extreme wildfires. But also California. And Siberia. And Indonesia. And Brazil. And Argentina.

Then there is the record of 30 hurricanes in the Atlantic. Its potential for devastation is immense and growing.

In the midst of all this, the Arctic has recorded new record lows for sea ice. And the glaciers of Antarctica are accelerating their slide into the oceans.

“Climate fluctuations that used to take millennia now occur in less than 100 years, affecting freshwater availability, food supply, health and environmental integrity,” argue Flinders University biodiversity researchers Frederik Saltre and Corey Bradshaw.

“Past climate changes set the stage for people to demonstrate immense adaptability and resilience by developing new skills, agricultural techniques, business patterns and political structures, but more importantly, leaving behind their old and unsustainable ways of life “.
In a nutshell; It took an immense alteration.

Silver lining

“Progress in vaccines encourages us all, and now we can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Tedros told the world assembly. “However, the WHO is concerned that there is a growing perception that the Covid-19 pandemic is over.”

WHO emergency response expert Mike Ryan says complacency presents a real risk.
“Vaccines do not equal zero Covid,” he said.

“We are at a crucial moment in some countries. There are health systems in some countries on the brink of collapse,” he said. Inevitably, this would have a systemic impact on economic production and distribution, including food.

Tedros called for a $ 4.3 billion injection in a global effort to share vaccines, warning of international chaos if the process turns into a “stampede.”

“This is a global crisis and solutions must be shared equitably as global public goods.”