Low-income countries could lose 30% of nutrients like protein and omega-3 from seafood due to climate change
October 30, 2023
The nutrients available from seafood could drop by 30 per cent for low-income countries by the end of the century due to climate change, suggests new UBC research.
That’s in a high carbon emissions and low mitigation scenario, according to the study published today in Nature Climate Change. This could be reduced to a roughly 10 per cent decline if the world were to meet the Paris Agreement targets of limiting global warming to 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius – which recent reports have shown we’re not on track to achieve.
“Low-income countries and the global south, where seafood is central to diets and has the potential to help address malnutrition, are the hardest hit by the effects of climate change,” said first author Dr. William Cheung, professor and director of the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF). “For many, seafood is an irreplaceable and affordable source of nutrients.”
- Research
- Media release
