A/HRC/37/61 security and build resilience in regions vulnerable to climate change and conflict crises. 2 According to the World Bank, natural disasters push 26 million people into poverty each year, eroding development gains and increasing dependency on aid. 3 9. Although encouraging pledges were made at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 to address shortcomings of humanitarian assistance, due to the recent increase in the number of such disasters and conflicts, the humanitarian emergency system has been experiencing difficulties, including a dire funding gap, and challenges in terms of leadership, coordination, functionality and efficiency. However, it is important to underline that regarding food assistance in particular, efforts have been made in recent decades to deliver more context-specific food aid, to increase local participation and avoid dependency or the disruption of local food systems, and to implement a human rights-based approach to disaster relief efforts. 10. Following the Special Rapporteur’s interim report devoted to the humanitarian system and the right to food in conflict situations (A/72/188), the present report focuses on the right to food in the context of natural disasters. Based on country-specific examples of extreme weather events, such as droughts, desertification and floods, as well as sudden disasters such as hurricanes, wildfires, tsunamis and earthquakes, the report evaluates the direct and indirect impact on the right to food and on people’s livelihoods, how these events contribute to hunger, and what should be done to reduce human rights violations and longterm resource depletion. The Special Rapporteur concludes that despite some of the positive outcomes of the World Humanitarian Summit, there is a need to improve preparedness and to ensure that greater attention is paid to building the resilience of the most affected and vulnerable communities as well as to establishing sustainable food systems. The report also highlights the importance of achieving a real convergence between emergency food aid, food assistance and development cooperation, while ensuring that the right to food both of individuals and of communities is met not only by short-term responses to emergency situations but also with due regard for long-term impacts. In order to achieve these goals, the common understanding among donor communities that humanitarian responses are currently treated as voluntary acts should be replaced by negotiating a legal obligation in the form of a comprehensive, multilateral treaty of general application. II. Impact of disasters on the right to food 11. Natural disasters and climate change are closely linked. The negative impact of climate change, such as global warming, not only hampers crop, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture productivity, but also influences the frequency of extreme weather events and natural hazards.4 Those events are expected to become more frequent in coming years, and according to predictions their strength and magnitude are likely to intensify. 12. Intensification and recurrence of natural disasters also magnify their impacts on populations, thereby risking impairment of human rights given that “more frequent and intense extreme weather events will also complicate the logistics of food distribution during emergencies”.5 13. The years 2015 and 2016 were especially difficult in terms of serious natural disasters. El Niño had devastating effects on countries throughout Southern Africa, leaving 12 million people food insecure.6 In 2016, El Niño reduced rainfall, causing intense and prolonged droughts in some areas, while heavy rains in other areas created catastrophic floods. These conditions had severe impacts on crop production, livestock, and agricultural livelihoods, reduced agricultural trade and led to food price spikes, especially in countries 2 3 4 5 6 4 Rosamond L. Naylor, “The elusive goal of global food security”, Current History (January 2018). World Bank, Unbreakable: Building the Resilience of the Poor in the Face of Natural Disasters, (Washington, 2017). See A/70/287, p. 4. Ibid. Food Security Information Network, Global Report on Food Crises 2017.