Thank you very much for that question.
Yes, indeed. The acceleration of global climate change can exacerbate geopolitical tensions as countries vie for access to vital resources, including resources in the food system.
From my research, which has looked at problems of concentration in food systems, one of the best ways to address the problem of climate change, which can, for example, reduce the production in a particular exporting country.... Take India, for example. Last year, in an extreme heat event, it lost around 25% of its wheat crop. It's an exporter to many developing countries, but also this year, El Niño has caused a reduction in its rice production. As we know, India has put an export ban in place on non-basmati rice, which has led to higher prices of rice on the world market. That directly affects food security.
One way to deal with this issue, I would argue, is to ensure greater diversity for resilience within global food systems. What I mean by that is enabling more countries around the world to produce more of their own food that they consume at home in order to allow a diverse system whereby countries can rely not just on global markets, but also on their domestic production. I'm not saying that every country should be food self-sufficient, but what we need is a system where there's a better balance between domestic production and trade. It's difficult to achieve that balance exactly, and Canada certainly plays a role in global food and grain markets, but I think there's a definite need to increase that domestic resilience in production through sustainable forms of agriculture that are more resilient to climate change.