Land Use & Sprawl

National Climate Assessment underscores need to invest in resilient, agroecological food systems

Minneapolis—The Fifth National Climate Assessment, released today by the White House in coordination with federal agencies, reinforces the need to build a more resilient and agroecological food system, according to the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

New factsheets on EU-Mercosur deal expose risks to both regions

Last week, Brazil National Space Research Institute (INPE) reported the highest rate of deforestation in the Amazon since 2008. Between August 2019 and July 2020, 11,087 square kilometers were deforested in the Amazon under the Bolsonaro government. The latest figures come on top of rising deforestation rates in previous years.

Climate, land use change and the EU-Mercosur Agreement: Accelerating tipping points

Provisions in the EU-Mercosur FTA conflict with ambitious climate action. If enacted, the agreement would result in an increase in EU imports of primary agricultural commodities from a region critical for maintaining global biodiversity and regulating climate. Based on available information, if ratified, the EU-Mercosur agreement would:

Final Statement from Climate Action Network (CAN)—ENGO

Download the full closing statement. 

Land and power in Detroit

In the mid-1970s, I was a member of the Detroit-based Pan-African Congress, USA. Inspired by the South African political party, the Pan-Africanist Congress, the PAC-USA, asserted that “land is the basis of power.” Of course, this slogan echoed the words of Malcolm X and countless other Black activists before him.

Video: Rethinking land use for biofuels

IATP hosted a conference last week at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment that addressed the contentious issue of indirect land use change (ILUC)—put simply, if we take an acre of corn used in food production and begin using it for fuel instead, how will the global agriculture system make up for that missing corn for food? Will more land be cleared somewhere else?