Is climate change really to blame for rising food costs?

Everything in the shops is getting more expensive and restaurant bills have become prohibitive. We are all aware that food price inflation is a major factor in the overall cost-of-living crisis. It might seem plausible, as claimed today, that climate change is a major factor driving this. After all, weird weather, wildfires and droughts make it far harder to grow crops, right?

Well, perhaps. The trouble is there is just one slight flaw: global food prices are falling in many cases this year, not rising. According to a widely-publicised report by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, food bills have risen by £605 per year for the average British household at least in part because of climate change. It argues that floods and droughts have worsened crop shortages, while the rising cost of energy has hurt the agricultural industry, putting even more pressure on supplies.