Farmland could feed 20 billion people but it might wreck the planet

Almost 20 billion people could be fed on the world’s current agricultural land, according to new research, but doing so would push the planet’s “feeding capacity” to its limit and create huge biodiversity and climate change risks.

The global population hit 8 billion in 2022 and is predicted to reach 11 billion by the end of the century, according to the United Nations, meaning the question of how many people Earth could possibly feed will be crucial in the coming decades.

Feeding 20 billion people …