Can any of us imagine a coffee-less world?
Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement means we won’t have to imagine it at all. Left unchecked, rising global temperatures will guarantee that coffee disappears in our lifetime.
Increasing heat will prevent coffee plants from growing in the places they call home. Extremes of drought and rain will batter those crops that struggle to remain. And the range of coffee rust fungus and pests like the coffee berry borer will explode to finish the job. It’s already happening.
Coffee harvests are already declining. Supplies are falling. Prices are rising. We are facing a world without coffee and those who grow it face a future without hope. That’s grounds for immediate action.
We insist on full unconditional support of the Paris Agreement. Without the changes it mandates, a terrifying tomorrow is brewing. And that’s not a fate we ever want to wake up to.
-Team Kohana
Original letter from Coffee & Cocoa International (C&CI):
Coffee and cocoa farmers around the world, many millions of whom live in poverty, know that climate change is real and that is affecting their livelihoods. Other players in the supply chain also know that it is real and that it will affect their businesses. The International Coffee Organization, International Cocoa Organisation, the scientific community, NGOs and commodity trade associations all support action on climate change to help farmers address the challenges they face. US President-Elect Donald Trump denies the reality of climate change and says he intends to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement.
Starbucks has already spoken out in an open letter to President-Elect Trump (http://www.lowcarbonusa.org/) that was signed by more than 360 companies in the US. Please make your views known to a wider audience and send us a short statement on this most important of issues.
Please let us know what you think about the President-Elect’s plan and what you think might happen to coffee and cocoa farmers – and the supply chain as a whole – if he withdraws the US from the Paris Agreement and hampers attempts to tackle climate change.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
