We must use genetic technologies now to avert the coming food crisis

There are two monumental problems with the world’s food system. Firstly, hundreds of millions of people can’t afford to buy enough nutritious food to stay healthy. Secondly, it is incredibly destructive. We are still razing rainforests to make way for ranches, and both conventional and organic farms produce all kinds of pollutants, with food systems generating more than a third of greenhouse gases.

As the world soars past a 1.5°C rise in temperature (see “2024 is set to be the first year that breaches the 1.5°C warming limit”), things could get much worse. But there is plenty we can do, from eating less meat to reducing food waste (see “Is the climate change food crisis even worse than we imagined?”). With the amazing advances in genetic technologies in recent years, there is also huge scope to improve the plants and animals that provide our food. We can make them more nutritious, healthier, better able to cope with changing conditions and less susceptible to diseases that are thriving as the world warms. We should also be able to create plants that need less fertiliser and capture more of the sun’s energy.

The benefits from all this would be enormous: more food from less land, lower prices, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and less chance of viruses such as H5N1 bird flu causing another pandemic.

So it is astounding that most countries aren’t investing heavily in improving crops. There is some private investment, but those companies are unlikely to make their technologies freely available, slowing their adoption.

We are also restricted by the notion that more “natural” means of farming are better, with opposition to genetically modified (GM) crops making it difficult and expensive to get them approved.

This is starting to change, with many countries making it easier for gene-edited crops and animals to get to market, but we need more action – and fast.

The idea that organic food is better for the planet and GM foods are worse for it is a false narrative that hides a much more unpalatable reality: that continuing as we are will lead to even more destruction and increased hunger.