Climate change is roasting coffee

WILD varieties of coffee could become extinct by 2080 if global warming continues to worsen, according to a report by The Climate Institute.

The Australian-based NGO said half of the world’s coffee farming land would no longer be suitable for the crop by 2050 due to increasing temperatures, fungi and pests. It is also predicted that wild coffee varieties such as Arabica, which do best at 18°C-21°C, could become extinct in 70 years.

The decline in production would affect not only coffee-lovers but also the livelihoods of around 120 million people in more than 70 countries who depend on the industry.

Climate change has paved the way for fungi such as coffee leaf rust to attack crops. And a pest known as the coffee berry borer, usually found only in plantations at low altitudes, has also spread higher, harming previously safe plantations.

Jim Hanna, sustainability director for Starbucks, said: “What we are seeing as we look 10, 20, 30 years down the road — if conditions continue as they are — is a potentially significant risk to our supply chain.”

Mario Cerutti, corporate relations partner at Lavazza, said: “We have a cloud hovering over our head.

“It’s dramatically serious. Climate change can have a significant adverse effect in the short term. It’s no longer about the future; it’s the present.” — ©