The Iron Triangle

Professor John Beddington, Britain's chief scientist, spoke at the Sustainable Development UK conference in Westminster on March 20th. His speech centered on the impending problem of a surge in demand for food, water and energy over the next two decades, which growing populations in developing countries are triggering. According to Beddington, these food-water-energy upheavals will come to a head in 2030. Stressing the urgency of addressing this important trifecta, Beddington warns: "We head into a perfect storm in 2030, because all of these things are operating on the same time frame…If we don’t address this, we can expect major destabilization, an increase in rioting and potentially significant problems with international migration, as people move out to avoid food and water shortages."

Indeed, there is reason for concern. Food reserves are currently at a 50-year low, yet projections suggest that there needs to be a 50% increase in food production by 2030. At the same time, there will necessarily have to be 50% more energy and 30% more fresh water produced. At GSI, we are beginning to coordinate a project on food, water and energy because like Professor Beddington, we believe that they are not only greatly important but “all intimately connected.”