COVID-19 Exposes Supply Chain Vulnerabilities that Cause Food Insecurity

The cornavirus pandemic has highlighted supply chain weaknesses that are causing food shortages. As explained in an FAO report, the global pandemic is threatening supply lines leading to concerns about food insecurity. "A protracted pandemic crisis could quickly put a strain on the food supply chains, a complex web of interactions involving farmers, agricultural inputs, processing plants, shipping, retailers and more," the report said. In a March paper the U.N. Committee on World Food Security (CFS) warned that Covid-19 will cause heightened instability in global food supply. The pandemic also prompted the Food and Land Use Coalition to issue a call to action for world leaders over what they describe as a humanitarian crisis requiring urgent coordinated action.

Building Resilience to Supply Chain Disruptions due to Climate Change

Anticipating problems associated with climate change and planning appropriate strategic responses are critical elements of contemporary business. Companies need look ahead to identify environmental vulnerabilities attributable to climate change and find ways of addressing them. As climate change worsens supply chain disruptions can be expected to increase.

The global nature of modern day procurement means that things like extreme weather events in one part of the world can have far reaching impacts. The destructive effects of climate change are already reverberating up and down supply chains around the world the disruptions associated with climate change are almost certainly going to get far worse. Some estimates indicate we are going to see a six degree rise in temperature by the end of the century.

The Sustainable Supply Chain Imperative

As climate change worsens supply chain disruptions can be expected to increase. The global nature of modern day supply chains means that events in one part of the world can have far reaching impacts. The destructive effects of climate change reverberate up and down supply chains and wreak havoc on procurement, production and logistical tactics.

There is an increasing need for companies to assess, evaluate and optimize their supply chain operations in order to reduce their carbon footprint, avoid disruptions from climate-related events, and meet the growing requirements from governments and customers.

Video - World Water Day: What Individuals Can Do

United Nations Regional Information Centre (UNRIC) - Video in English created by United Kingdom based students at the University of Creative Arts in Farnham, for World Water Day. The contribution is part of UNRIC's partnership with Fabrica.

To help promote a series of UN International Days, prestigious European design schools and academies produce short videos part of a partnership between UNRIC and Fabrica, the Benetton research centre on communication.

The schools belong to a network established by Fabrica to promote youth creativity. Video content produced by the students is promoted by the UN and showcased on Benetton storefront Live Windows.

Author: Rory Tatton
Tutor: Craig Burston
Institute: UCA Farnham, United Kingdom
Cover: Gastón Lisak (Fabrica resident)
Music: Jhon William Castaño (Fabrica resident)

Video: World Water Day: Problems and Solutions Animated Short

This animated short video offers a condensed review of water related issues in the developing world and what we can do to address it.

Video - World Water Day 2013: Message from UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon

World Water Day (22nd March 2013): Video Message from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the importance of Water Cooperation, the theme of World Water Day 2013.

Documentary - Water on the Table

This documentary about water was the Winner of the Best Canadian Feature Film at the 2010 Planet in Focus International Film and Video Festival.  The film features Maude Barlow, who has earned the nickname “Water Warrior.” She is the National Chairperson for the Council of Canadians and former Senior Advisor on Water at the United Nations General Assembly. Maude cares about the environment and she won’t back down from a fight with corporations who threaten the access to clean and free water.

Water sustains life, but in many countries water has also become a commodity. Barlow wants to put a stop to considering water a profit-generating good and have it declared a human right. Marshall takes us on the road with Barlow as she works to preserve Canada’s freshwater systems. We travel with them to Canadian and international speaking engagements and get to watch as they crash political meetings. Marshall’s character-driven social commentary is a visually stunning meditation on the beauty and all-encompassing need for clean water.

For more information click here.

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World Water Day 2013: International Year of Water Cooperation
Solutions to the World Water Crisis Requires International Cooperation
Solutions to Diminishing Ground Water
Reducing Water Use in the United States
Water Efficiency: Stopping the Flow from Leaky Pipes
How Much Water is there on Earth
Water as a Weapon of War
Alarming Facts About Water
Population Growth and Climate Change will Add to the World Water Crisis

The Carbon Trust's Water Standard

The Carbon Trust's Water Standard is a new resource that helps companies to measure and manage their water usage. Carbon Trust worked with Sainsbury’s, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Sunlight and Branston — the four companies that have already adopted the Carbon Trust Water Standard — to develop the methodology for the new standard.

To achieve the Carbon Trust Water Standard organizations must:

Infographic - Plumbing Heroes: Water Stewards for the 21st Century

Click Here for an interactive version - Able Skills Construction Courses

Related Posts
Water Efficiency: Stopping the Flow from Leaky Pipes
Solutions to the World Water Crisis Requires International Cooperation
Reducing Water Use in the United States
How Much Water is there on Earth
World Water Day 2013: International Year of Water Cooperation

Water Efficiency: Stopping the Flow from Leaky Pipes

One of the most obvious keys to responsible water management is increasing water use efficiency (WUE) and this entails arresting the prodigious flow of water from leaking pipes. All around the world countries are facing massive water losses form leaking pipes. Thankfully there some innovative new solutions to this wasteful problem.

Even a small leak adds up over time. To illustrate the point a dripping pipe can lose about one litre of water per minute. Over eight weeks that amounts to approximately 80,000 litres of wasted water. A leaking faucet in anther source of water loss. A faucet that drips one drop per second, would waste 27,000 gallons of water annually.

In Asia around 29 billion cubic meters of urban treated water is lost every year due to leaking pipes. This is worth about nine billion dollars annually. According to the Asian Development Bank, "by cutting physical losses to half the present level, 150 million people could be supplied with already treated water."

Reducing Water Use in the United States

This op-ed was written for World Water Day by Danielle Nierenberg, Co-founder of Food Tank. The article offers five steps that we can all take to reduce water waste in the United States. Danielle has spent the last two and a half years traveling to 35 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, conducting research on environmentally sustainable ways of reducing hunger and poverty. Over the last fifteen years she has been published in hundreds of publications around the world, including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, USA Today, the Houston Chronicle, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Seattle Times, the Christian Science Monitor, and dozens more. Her research has been featured on National Public Radio, Voice of America, ABC, and CNN.
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How Much Water is there on Earth

The graphic shows three blue spheres representing relative amounts of Earth's water in comparison to the size of the Earth. [The third is so small it is hard to see.] These images attempt to show three dimensions, so each sphere represents volume. Overall, it shows that in comparison to the volume of the globe the amount of water on the planet is very small - and the oceans are only a "thin film" of water on the surface.

If you took all the water on earth – in oceans, ice caps, lakes, rivers, groundwater, the atmosphere, and living things – and wrapped it into a sphere, it would have a diameter of about 860 miles. That 860-mile-high sphere is represented by the largest bubble in the picture, which stretches from Salt Lake City, Utah to Topeka, Kan. It has a volume of over 332 million cubic miles. If you popped this bubble with a giant pin, the resulting flow would cover the lower 48 states to a depth of about 107 miles.

Solutions to the World Water Crisis Requires International Cooperation

Sharing water across international boundaries is a complex international challenge that requires coordinated water policy formulation and responsible governance. To meet global water requirements governments at all levels need to work together to craft clear policies and enact enforceable laws. To address the world water crisis, governments, corporations and other concerned parties need an ambitious mission, long term vision, strategic goals and specific detailed planning.

Water is important for all living organisms. Without water, there will be no life. Entire civilizations have collapsed due to water shortages, therefore the pressing importance of finding international water solutions cannot be overstated.

People have been controlling water for more than four thousand years. The issue we face today is not about whether we should manage water resources, the issue is how this can best be achieved.

World Water Day 2013: International Year of Water Cooperation

World Water Day is held annually on 22 March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. An international day to celebrate freshwater was recommended at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The United Nations General Assembly responded by designating 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day.

Each year, World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater. In 2013, in reflection of the International Year of Water Cooperation,/ World Water Day is also dedicated to the theme of cooperation around water and is coordinated by UNESCO in collaboration with UNECE and UNDESA on behalf of UN-Water.