Hunger to rise as world warms up, warns Oxfam

With one in eight people in the world already going hungry, the pressure of rising temperatures and extreme weather events on production means more people will not be able to afford enough to eat, Oxfam warned.

The number of people at risk of hunger could rise by 10-20 per cent by 2050 compared to a world where the climate was not changing, undoing efforts to tackle the problem, the aid agency said.

Oxfam has previously estimated that the average price of staple foods will more than double in the next 20 years, with up to half the increase down to climate change.

In a report ahead of a major global assessment of climate change science that is due out on Friday, Oxfam said yields were already being hit by global warming and in some of the poorest parts of the world could be reduced by 10-20 per cent by 2050.