A new report warns that six of Europe's staple food imports—cocoa, coffee, wheat, maize, rice, and soy—face rising threats from climate change and biodiversity loss, putting the continent's food security and economy at risk.
As climate change accelerates and biodiversity continues to decline, Europe’s food supply chains are under growing pressure. A report commissioned by the European Climate Foundation and conducted by UK consultancy Foresight Transitions reveals that more than half of the EU’s imports of six key food commodities come from countries highly vulnerable to climate impacts and with limited capacity to adapt.
The most affected are cocoa, maize, and wheat. For these three, two-thirds of imports come from regions where biodiversity is no longer intact. “These aren’t just abstract threats,” said lead author Camilla Hyslop. “They’re already playing out through rising prices, supply disruptions, and job losses.”
Chocolate under the greatest threat
The EU’s chocolate industry, valued at around €44 billion, is particularly exposed. Around 97% of its cocoa is imported from countries with low resilience to climate shocks, such as Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Nigeria—nations also grappling with serious biodiversity degradation.
Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, and deforestation in West Africa have pushed cocoa prices higher, contributing to a 41% increase in EU cocoa import costs over the past year. Combined with the rising price of sugar, chocolate producers are facing what experts call an “environmental double whammy.”
The result: chocolate prices have soared 43% in just three years, according to the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU).
Climate + biodiversity = a dangerous feedback loop
What makes the crisis more acute is the interplay between climate and biodiversity. “Declining biodiversity undermines the resilience of farms and ecosystems,” Hyslop explained, “making them more vulnerable to pests, disease, and weather extremes.”
Deforestation and monocropping—common practices in commodity farming—worsen the situation by degrading soil and altering microclimates, ultimately diminishing crop yields.
EU climate risks make imports indispensable
While some argue the EU should reshore food production, the report’s co-author, Dr. Mark Workman, calls this insufficient. “Europe can’t grow cocoa or coffee in meaningful quantities. And it faces its own climate and biodiversity threats,” he said.
Indeed, 2024 alone saw floods in the UK and France reducing wheat output and heatwaves hitting maize crops in Eastern Europe—events that highlight the EU’s continued dependence on global supply chains.
A call for international climate investment
The report stresses that climate finance is not charity—it’s in the EU’s own interest. “We must invest in the resilience of our trading partners and infrastructure,” Workman emphasized. “Ports, supply chains, and the farmers themselves are all under pressure.”
Among the report’s recommendations are targeted support for smallholder farmers, especially in the cocoa sector, and stronger climate mitigation policies to protect supply chains and ecosystems alike.
As aid budgets are increasingly weighed against defense spending, the report offers a clear message: climate security and food security are inseparable—and both are essential to Europe's future.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia hit at least six energy targets in deadly strikes across Ukraine, showing Moscow is unwilling t...
Saudi Arabia has vowed to remain resilient after a wave of Houthi missile and drone attacks killed around 20 people at Riyadh's main airp...
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to sign and ratify their peace agreement as soon as possible, calling it a...
One person was killed and nearly a dozen hurt in a fresh attack on Riyadh's international airport on Sunday, Saudi authorities reported, a day after a strike claimed by Yemen's Houthis killed 13 people and wounded more than 300.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said late Monday that it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthi group toward Khamis Mushait in southwestern Saudi Arabia.
The Houthi movement has escalated their attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting the airport in Riyadh and other cities, killing more than a dozen people.
The Kremlin on Monday rejected a 60-day ceasefire idea proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to allow his country to hold presidential elections, saying it wanted an overall peace deal instead.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia hit at least six energy targets in deadly strikes across Ukraine, showing Moscow is unwilling to accept the energy ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Türkiye’s COP31 presidency has unveiled an action agenda designed to turn climate commitments into concrete projects and measurable results, focusing on clean energy, waste reduction, resilient cities and industrial decarbonisation.
Greenland and Antarctica have shed a combined 11.3 trillion tonnes of ice since 1979, according to the most comprehensive satellite study of the planet's ice sheets to date, with researchers warning the pace of loss has accelerated sharply in recent decades.
The European Union will continue allowing large-scale plastic waste exports to Türkiye despite concerns over recycling rates, environmental damage and the risk of illegal waste trafficking.
Hundreds of thousands of deep-diving turtles, known as olive ridley sea turtles, have arrived on Mexico’s southern coast for one of nature’s most striking nesting events. But conservation officials warn that climate change is making it increasingly difficult for their eggs to hatch.
August 2026 tied as the hottest month ever recorded globally, pushing average temperatures above the critical 1.5°C threshold as extreme weather swept across several regions, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment