Abstract It is the perfect storm. Limited food, water and energy unequally spread between an expanding population, and a warming climate as the bitter icing on the cake. In all these global challenges nitrogen has a leading role to play.

The 2015 Global Sustainable Development Report was launched in the end of June 2015 and is intended to contribute to the 2015 session of the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development.

This report summarises research from scientific, policy and industrial experiences on energy use in the EU food sector. It acknowledges that while the EU has made progress in incorporating renewable energy across the economy, the share of renewables in the food system remains relatively small. The report discusses the way ahead and highlights the main challenges to be faced in decreasing energy use and in increasing the renewable energy share in the food sector.

This paper from Nature Communications explores whether arguments that highlight and quantity biodiversity’s economic value to humanity are sufficient approaches  to halting its loss; and it also discusses some of the potential trade offs between the conservation of biological diversity and the concept of ecosystem services.

This policy research working paper by the world-bank has revisited numbers on women’s contribution to agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. Its findings have challenged the development profession to revisit a number of claims about African economies, including those about the role of women in African agriculture.

The Swedish environment and sustainability magazine Miljöaktuellt has carried out a survey of municipalities in Sweden which show that 4 out of 10 schools have implemented either a meat-free day a week or undertaken other activities that reduce meat consumption to an equivalent degree.  This number of participating schools represents an increase of 35% from the previous year.

Abstract Livestock production worldwide is increasing rapidly, in part due to economic growth and demand for meat in industrializing countries. Yet there are many concerns about the sustainability of increased meat production and consumption, from perspectives including human health, animal welfare, climate change and environmental pollution.

This report, commissioned by Lloyd’s, describes how our food system is becoming increasingly vulnerable to acute shocks and underlines the pressing need to reduce the uncertainty surrounding the impacts of an extreme shock to the food supply.