It’s time to plant a seed in the eco debate that crops and food are key to climate change

Bill Gates is right – cutting emissions is no longer enough, says Sir Thomas Hughes-Hallett. If we want to feed the world, we must fund the science that helps crops survive a changing climate

As world leaders gather in Brazil for Cop30, one truth can no longer be denied: the climate is going to change.

No matter how many pledges are made or emissions targets set, global warming is already reshaping our weather, ecosystems, and way of life. The time for denial has passed – but so too has the illusion that we can simply reverse the process.

The defining challenge of this century will be to adapt. Bill Gates has recently emphasised the need to look beyond emissions and temperature change in setting priorities. I believe that, to feed humankind, we must adapt.

For too long, global climate policy has focused overwhelmingly on limiting the rate of climate change: cutting emissions, capturing carbon, and restoring forests. All remain vital, but they are not enough.

‘At a time when our survival depends on these crops, the science that could secure them receives all too little support from responsible businesses and philanthropists, as well as governments – globally, a fraction of medical science’

Even if every government met every promise, we are already in a world that is hotter, drier, and more unpredictable than the one our parents knew. Adapting to this reality means transforming how we grow food and feed a population of more than eight billion on a planet of changing rainfall, new pests, and fewer stable seasons.

And here lies an extraordinary gap – one that this Cop must finally confront. While billions are spent on renewable energy, electric cars, and carbon credits, almost nothing is invested worldwide in understanding how the plants we rely on could survive and thrive in the future climate. We must produce 70 per cent more food to feed an estimated population of 9.7 billion in 2050 – despite new pests, deteriorating soils, and climate instability.

Consider wheat, the foundation of global food systems. It feeds billions directly and indirectly through livestock and processed foods. Yet astonishingly little philanthropic funding goes towards the basic plant science that could make future crops more resilient to heat, drought, and disease.

The same is true for many crops, fruits and vegetables that define healthy human diets.

At a time when our survival depends on these crops, the science that could secure them receives all too little support from responsible businesses and philanthropists, as well as governments – globally, a fraction of medical science. This balance might seem politically expedient, but it is deeply threatening to our future existence.

Medical research commands vast public sympathy and funding. Animal welfare attracts huge charitable giving. But plant science – the foundation of every meal – remains almost invisible.

In the UK and Europe, charitable and philanthropic support for plant research is a fraction of what is given to human health. Yet diet is the single largest driver of well-being. Crops that need fewer nitrates and pesticides would not only nourish people more healthily, they would also lighten agriculture’s heavy footprint on the planet.

We could literally save our NHS by reducing chronic diseases, obesity, and diabetes driven by poor diet, through breeding new, healthier, tastier crops combined with changes in eating habits. This is the first crucial step towards a second green revolution.

This is why discovery science is indispensable. Applied research can only go so far without the deep understanding that underpins it. We need to know how plants defend themselves from disease, fix nitrogen, store carbon, and interact with the microbes in the soil. These are not engineering challenges; they are scientific ones.

And solving them will take decades of patient, curiosity-driven work – exactly the kind of research that today’s philanthropic and funding systems neglect.

Britain is a world leader in this field. From Darwin to modern genomics, British-based researchers have shaped how the world understands life itself.

Today, that tradition continues at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, one of the world’s foremost institutes for plant and microbial research, alongside its partner, The Sainsbury Laboratory.

The UK Government has recognised its importance by supporting the institute to build a renewed national and international hub for plant science in Norwich – a campus where discovery research will drive breakthroughs in sustainable food, nutrition, and climate resilience.

The Norwich Research Park, in which the John Innes Centre is situated, brings together the excellence of food science, data science, and climate science on a thriving business park.

Brazil, as host of this Cop, is the perfect stage for this message. It is a country of extraordinary biodiversity, agricultural power, and climate vulnerability. But prioritising plant science must become a shared international mission.

If the world continues to underestimate plant science, the next generation will inherit not just a hotter planet, but one less able to feed itself.

The climate is changing. Our diets must change with it. The question is whether we will invest enough now to understand the plants that make both possible.

If Cop in Brazil can shift global thinking from trying to reverse the inevitable to preparing wisely for what’s to come, it will have achieved something historic. The next great act of climate leadership is not just cutting carbon – it is growing smarter plants for a world we can no longer predict.

I believe we can deliver a healthier planet to our children, but if we want them to be truly proud of us, we must also deliver them healthy plants, which can only be achieved by a more strategic balance in science funding and a larger focus on adaptation.

It is only then that we can hope to feed an ever-expanding population of healthier people.

Sir Thomas Hughes-Hallett is the chair of the John Innes Centre