At the same time, however, almost one quarter of the world population was considered overweight or obese. Most people (65 per cent) live in countries where overweight is a bigger killer than undernourishment.4 Through its association with sharp increases in the prevalence of chronic diseases, like diabetes and cardio-vascular ailments, unhealthy food patterns are also pushing up health costs in developed and developing countries alike. Almost one half of the forests that covered the Earth are gone,5 groundwater sources are rapidly being depleted, enormous reductions in biodiversity have already taken place6 and, through the burning of fossil fuels, about 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide are currently being emitted each year. Growth of the world population, per capita income, energy and resource use, waste and the production of pollutants (including greenhouse gas emissions) have all increased exponentially since the first industrial revolution.