Let’s take a look at what a recent scientific paper ACTUALLY said about the impacts of climate change on coffee, versus what the media had to say.
Climate change
First Rainforest Alliance climate-friendly coffee farm(s)
(Updated) Finca Platanillo in San Marcos, western Guatemala is the first coffee farm to be verified by Rainforest Alliance (RA) for compliance with the Climate Module of the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN, the standards-setting organization for RA). Less than a week later, it was announced that the well-known Daterra Estate in Minas Gerias, Brazil became…
Climate change threatens east African coffee via borers
Some like it hot: The influence and implications of climate change on coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei) and coffee production in east Africa. Jaramillo et al. 2011. PLoS One. An important new paper published this week outlines the threat posed by the expansion of coffee berry borers in east Africa due to climate change. This…
Two degrees up
The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) produced a series of short films on what a changing climate could mean for farming communities in East and West Africa, and South America. The segment below is the impact on coffee producers in Colombia — not only what changing climate could mean, but what it does mean…
Mitigating climate change with coffee
Results from a research project on mitigating climate change in Mesoamerican coffee production.
Climate change impacts on coffee nations
The Center for Global Development recently released data on the vulnerability of countries around the world to climate change. I’ve taken slices of two maps that show the latitudes where coffee is grown. Both maps rank agricultural productivity loss, with countries having the most impact in darker reds, less impact in oranges and yellows. The…
Coffee and climate change updates
While many of us in the U.S. are shivering through one of the coldest and snowiest winters in recent memory, we need to keep in mind that weather is not the same as climate. Climate change and rising temperatures in tropical regions is and will continue to have a profound impact on coffee growing. Here are some recent resources.
Coffee and climate change: updated resources
Coffee and climate change resources.
Carbon credits with coffee: a how-to guide
Last spring I posted about a lecture I attended at the SCAA conference on coffee and climate change. I focused on the climate module that Rainforest Alliance is adding to its certification. Part of this initiative was to create a…
Coffee, climate change, and Rainforest Alliance
At the Specialty Coffee Association of America expo, we attended a lecture on climate change and coffee. Several speakers discussed this topic, but I’ll focus on the climate module that Rainforest Alliance is adding to its certification. This was announced…
Green Mountain climate change grant finalists
Last month, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters announced a request for proposals for four $200,000 grants to organizations working on climate change. The grants will be awarded in each of four categories: transportation-related emissions, threats to coffee-growing communities, building political will,…
Green Mountain to fund climate change projects
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters will award four grants of $200,000 each to organizations with ideas to combat climate change in four core areas: transportation-related emissions (including GMCR’s product shipping), threats to coffee-growing communities (enormous, given that climate change is already…
Rainforest Alliance introduces carbon module
Rainforest Alliance will be adding a carbon module to their certification for coffee farms (presumably other crops they certify). They are also looking for further incentives to encourage farmers to plant more trees, including developing a system that would allow coffee companies to buy carbon from farmers along with their coffee beans.
Coffee farms and carbon sequestration
In my post, “Why certifying shade coffee is so complex,” I ended with a comment regarding the upside-down nature of shade (or organic) certification. That is, the burden of certification costs are on the producers who are doing the right…
Coffee growing and climate change
Coffee requires quite specific growing conditions. Its sensitivity to climatic variables means that global climate change is likely to have profound impacts on coffee growing and production.