APPLICATION OF GREEN ECONOMY PRINCIPLES IN ENSURING FOOD SECURITY
Keywords:
Green economy, food security, sustainable agriculture, climate-smart agriculture, greenhouse gas emissions, circular economy, ecosystem services, green finance, SDG 2, food systems transformation, renewable energy, organic farmingAbstract
This article examines the application of green economy principles as a strategic framework for ensuring global food security, drawing on the most current 2024–2025 statistical evidence from FAO, OECD, the Climate Policy Initiative, USDA, and the World Bank. Despite incremental progress — global hunger declining to approximately 673 million people (8.2% of world population) in 2024 — agrifood systems remain responsible for approximately 30% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, generate pressure on 86% of species at risk of extinction, and receive only 7.2% (≈ USD 95 billion) of total annual climate finance, compared to the USD 1.1 trillion required annually by 2030. The article analyses five core green economy principles — resource efficiency, circular agriculture, renewable energy integration, ecosystem services valuation, and green public investment — and assesses their application to food security challenges across global income groups. The findings demonstrate that a well-designed green economy transition in agrifood systems is not a tradeoff against food security, but its most durable long-term foundation: OECD-FAO scenario modelling for 2025–2034 shows that combined investment in emission-reduction technologies and a 15% agricultural productivity increase can simultaneously eliminate undernourishment by 2034 and reduce GHG emissions by 7%.
