How climate change could change the taste of your tea
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Trouble is brewing for Britain's beloved cup of tea, as a report warns climate change means it might start tasting worse.
Extreme weather and rising temperatures could lead to inferior quality leaves that could hit the taste, according to a report by Christian Aid.
Kenya, the world's biggest exporter of black tea, faces more erratic rainfall, making floods and droughts more common, and increasing temperatures. Other major tea-producing countries - including India, Sri Lanka and China - are likely to be affected too.
Research suggests climate change is going to slash optimal conditions for tea production in Kenya by 26 per cent by 2050, and areas with only average growing conditions will see production fall by 39 per cent by the middle of the century.
The warning comes as the UK prepares to host the G7 meeting of major economies next month - where Boris Johnson has said climate, and finance for poor countries to cope with global warming, will be centre stage. Britain will also host the key UN Cop26 climate talks in Glasgow in November.
Dr Kat Kramer, Christian Aid's climate policy lead, said: "As host of both the G7 in June and the Cop26 climate summit in November, the UK can ensure that countries on the front line of this crisis can adapt and respond to the impacts of climate change.
"With countries starting to announce improved climate plans, there is a unique opportunity to accelerate cuts in emissions and boost the finance needed to help countries adapt to the changing climate."
Richard Koskei, 72, a tea farmer from Kericho in Kenya's Western Highlands, said: "Climate change poses a real threat to us. We cannot predict seasons any more, temperatures are rising, rainfall is more erratic, more often accompanied by unusual hailstones and longer droughts which was not the case in the past.
"If this continues then it will make growing tea much harder and life for us extremely difficult."
Fiachra Moloney, of the PG Tips maker Unilever, said: "In East Africa, where so much of our tea comes from, climate change is putting the livelihoods of the people who grow tea for us at risk.
"We call on governments to bring forward ambitious climate targets, policies and plans ahead of Cop26 that will help us all work together to limit global average temperature rise to 1.5C."
