Ensure Coffee Survives Climate Change
16,626 signatures toward our 30,000 Goal
Sponsor: The Hunger Site
Climate change could render coffee extinct by 2080. So what happens to the 120 million people relying upon the key global crop?
Worldwide, 25 million coffee farmers make it possible for 2.25 billion cups of coffee to be consumed each day2. It's a $19 billion dollar industry relied upon by over 120 million people in more than 70 countries3.
Rising temperatures and altering rainfall patterns brought on by climate change will apply enormous stress to this industry. Unless emissions are drastically reduced, climate change is projected to cut the global area suitable for coffee production by as much as 50% by 20504.
By 2080, climate change could render coffee extinct5.
This means that 25 million coffee farmers, from the equatorial environments where coffee can grow, could no longer support their families. This means that those reliant on coffee could become displaced, out of work, and seeking refuge6. This means that, if we can't drastically slow climate change, the best way to combat this issue is to better fund the research of agricultural innovation.
Without innovation, coffee won't survive — it won't be able to grow on mountain sides; it won't be able to withstand vicious pests that thrive off of the rising temperatures7.
Without innovation, 120 million people could lose their livelihoods8.
Sign the petition to request the reallocation of funds from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), so that agricultural innovation gives coffee and its farmers a fighting chance against climate change.
- Frank Jakobi, E-News Dispatch (2022), "Climate Change Threatens Coffee Production."
- Eric Goldschein, (14 November 2011), "11 Incredible Facts About The Global Coffee Industry."
- Lisa Nikolau, Humanosphere (31 August 2016). "Climate change may halve the world's regions suitable for growing coffee, report shows."
- Faisal O'Keefe, Green Prophet (3 September 2016), "Coffee extinct by 2080."
- Aileen Bowe (12 May 2021), "Coffee Farmers Forced to Migrate."
- Justin Worland/Alajuela, Time (21 June 2018), "Your Morning Cup of Coffee Is in Danger. Can the Industry Adapt in Time?."
- Michael Slezak, The Guardian (29 August 2016), "Climate change predicted to halve coffee-growing area that supports 120m people."
The Petition:
To the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development:
Unless we soon see a drastic reduction of emissions worldwide, climate change will devour one of our key global crops: coffee. Specifically, a recent report from The Climate Institute predicts that, at its current rate, climate change will cut the global area suitable for coffee production by as much as 50 percent. They also project that 30 years from then, in 2080, wild coffee will officially become extinct.
If this happens without interjection, 120 million people in 70 countries reliant upon the $19 billion coffee industry could find themselves unable to make a living. We can't let this happen.
So I write to you today to help spark that interjection, to guide your attention to the 25 million coffee farmers who — in order to overcome the obstacles that come with shifting plantations up mountain sides; in order to maximize yield despite rising temperatures; in order to combat vicious pests that thrive with climate change — are in need of innovation they can't currently fund.
I write to you so that funds of the International Fund for Agricultural Development may be reallocated, and that innovative techniques for these farmers become IFAD's utmost priority. Without such a shift, these farmers and their families run the extreme risk of perishing with the crop whose demand they've lived off of for years — a scenario no one on this earth should face.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
