Tim Searchinger

Senior Fellow, World Resources Report, Creating a Sustainable Food Future

Bio

Timothy D. Searchinger is a Senior Fellow at the World Resources Institute and serves as the technical director of the next World Resources Report: Creating a Sustainable Food Future. He is also a Research Scholar and Lecturer at the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University. Although trained as a lawyer, his work today combines ecology and economics to analyze the challenge of how to feed a growing world population while reducing deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. Searchinger was the lead author of papers in Science in 2008 and 2009 offering the first calculations of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with land use change due to biofuels, and describing a broader error for bioenergy in the accounting rules for the Kyoto Protocol and many national laws. Searchinger is also the director of the Agricultural Synergies Project, a collaborative, international project to develop guidance for developing countries on means of boosting agriculture production while reducing emissions.

For most of his career, Searchinger worked as an attorney at the conservation group, the Environmental Defense Fund, where he directed its work on agricultural policy and wetlands and several major aquatic ecosystems, and received a National Wetlands Protection Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Searchinger has also been a fellow of the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment at Oxford University, a Transatlantic Fellow of the German Marshall Fund, a Senior Fellow of the Law and Environmental Policy Institute at Georgetown University Law Center, a special adviser to the Maryland government on the Chesapeake Bay, a Deputy General Counsel to Governor Robert P. Casey of Pennsylvania and a law clerk to Judge Edward Becker of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He is a graduate, summa cum laude, of Amherst College and holds a J.D. from Yale Law School where he was Senior Editor of the Yale Law Journal. His website can be found at www.princeton.edu/~tsearchi.

Blogs

Regenerative Agriculture: Good for Soil Health, but Limited Potential to Mitigate Climate Change
by Janet Ranganathan, Richard Waite, Tim Searchinger and Jessica Zionts - May 12, 2020
Everyone from policymakers to food companies to farmers tout the widespread climate benefits of regenerative agriculture. Our research finds otherwise.
10 Breakthrough Technologies Can Help Feed the World Without Destroying It
by Tim Searchinger, Craig Hanson, Richard Waite and Janet Ranganathan - July 17, 2019
How can the world feed nearly 10 billion people by 2050 while also advancing economic development, protecting forests and stabilizing the climate? Technological innovations like plant-based "beef" and low-emissions rice can help.
6 Pressing Questions About Beef and Climate Change, Answered
by Richard Waite, Tim Searchinger and Janet Ranganathan - April 08, 2019
There are a lot of misconceptions swirling about beef—its environmental impacts, how it's produced and whether or how much to eat. We examined the latest research to separate myth from fact.
How to Sustainably Feed 10 Billion People by 2050, in 21 Charts
by Janet Ranganathan, Richard Waite, Tim Searchinger and Craig Hanson - December 05, 2018
Can we feed the world without destroying it? New research reveals 22 steps to a sustainable food future.
INSIDER: Responding to 9 Common Questions About Shifting Diets for a Sustainable Food Future
by Richard Waite, Janet Ranganathan and Tim Searchinger - May 20, 2016
WRI released Shifting Diets for a Sustainable Food Future in April 2016, finding that for people who consume high amounts of meat and dairy, shifting to diets with a greater share of plant-based foods could significantly reduce agriculture’s pressure on the environment. Below, we respond to some queries about the methods and findings.
Why Dedicating Land to Bioenergy Won't Curb Climate Change
by Tim Searchinger - January 28, 2015
A new WRI paper finds bioenergy can play a modest role using wastes and other niche fuelstocks, but recommends against dedicating land to produce bioenergy.

The lesson: do not grow food or grass crops for ethanol or diesel or cut down trees for electricity.
More Rice, Less Methane
by Tim Searchinger and Richard Waite - December 16, 2014
A new WRI working paper finds that reducing flooding in rice paddies can dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and can also help conserve water and boost yields.
Renewing the Global Commitment to Crop Breeding
by Tim Searchinger and Craig Hanson - July 28, 2014
In an article originally published for Devex, Tim Searchinger and Craig Hanson discuss a new World Resources Report publication, which finds that using the modern advances of genetics—such as DNA mapping—offers a great opportunity to increase crop yields while also protecting the environment.
Closing the "Food Gap" Means Renewing the Global Commitment to Crop Breeding
by Tim Searchinger and Craig Hanson - July 22, 2014
The world is on a path to need almost 70 percent more crops in 2050 than those it produced in 2006. To close that crop gap without large price increases or clearing more valuable forests and savannas, yields are going to have to grow 33 percent more in the next 44 years than they did in the last 44.

Using advances in molecular biology to breed better crops can sustainably secure more of the global food supply.
3 Unexpected Ways to Improve Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa
by Tim Searchinger and Craig Hanson - July 31, 2013
The United Nations’ new population growth projections show that the world is set to reach nearly 9.6 billion by 2050. This growth holds serious implications for global food security. Absent other effective measures to control dietary shifts and reduce food loss and waste, the world will need to produce about 70 percent more food annually by 2050 to meet global demands. That is a big task, and even harder to do without converting millions more hectares of forests into farmland, contributing to climate change.

External Publications

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Tim Searchinger

Regenerative Agriculture: Good for Soil Health, but Limited Potential to Mitigate Climate Change

10 Breakthrough Technologies Can Help Feed the World Without Destroying It

6 Pressing Questions About Beef and Climate Change, Answered

How to Sustainably Feed 10 Billion People by 2050, in 21 Charts

INSIDER: Responding to 9 Common Questions About Shifting Diets for a Sustainable Food Future

Why Dedicating Land to Bioenergy Won't Curb Climate Change

More Rice, Less Methane

Renewing the Global Commitment to Crop Breeding

Closing the "Food Gap" Means Renewing the Global Commitment to Crop Breeding

3 Unexpected Ways to Improve Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa

Comparing the Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Dairy and Pork Systems Across Countries Using Land-Use Carbon Opportunity Costs

Creating a Sustainable Food Future

A Menu of Solutions to Feed Nearly 10 Billion People by 2050 (Final Report)

Creating a Sustainable Food Future

A Menu of Solutions to Feed Nearly 10 Billion People by 2050 (Synthesis Report)

The Production and Use of Waste-Derived Renewable Natural Gas as a Climate Strategy in the United States

Shifting Diets for a Sustainable Food Future

Creating a Sustainable Food Future, Installment Eleven

Ensuring Crop Expansion is Limited to Lands with Low Environmental Opportunity Costs

Creating a Sustainable Food Future, Installment Ten

Avoiding Bioenergy Competition for Food Crops and Land

Creating a Sustainable Food Future, Installment Nine

Wetting and Drying: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Saving Water from Rice Production

Creating a Sustainable Food Future, Installment Eight

Crop Breeding: Renewing the Global Commitment

Creating a Sustainable Food Future, Installment Seven

Creating a Sustainable Food Future: Interim Findings

A menu of solutions to sustainably feed more than 9 billion people by 2050

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A Menu of Solutions to Feed Nearly 10 Billion People by 2050 (Final Report)

A Menu of Solutions to Feed Nearly 10 Billion People by 2050 (Synthesis Report)

Creating a Sustainable Food Future, Installment Eleven

Creating a Sustainable Food Future, Installment Ten

Creating a Sustainable Food Future, Installment Nine

Creating a Sustainable Food Future, Installment Eight

Creating a Sustainable Food Future, Installment Seven

A menu of solutions to sustainably feed more than 9 billion people by 2050

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