Food systems account for more than a third of global GHGs
New York - More than one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity can be attributed to the way we produce, process and package food, a UN-backed study published on Tuesday has revealed.
Food system emissions were estimated at 18 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2015, or 34 per cent, though down from 44 per cent in 1990, indicating gradual decline even as these emissions kept increasing.
The UN report was produced collaboration with European Commission researchers.
It highlights how global food systems are becoming more energy intensive, reflecting trends in retail, packaging, transport and processing, whose emissions are growing rapidly in some developing countries.
Roughly two-thirds of food system emissions come from agriculture, land use and changes in land use. The figure is higher for developing countries but is also declining significantly as deforestation decreases and food processing, refrigeration and other downstream activities increase.
China, Indonesia, the United States, Brazil, the European Union and India are the top emitters.
Production processes, which includes inputs such as fertilisers, are the leading contributor to overall food-system emissions, or 39 per cent of the total. Land use accounts for 38 per cent and distribution contributes 29 per cent, which is expected to continue growing.
Methane from livestock raising and rice cultivation accounts for 35 per cent of food system greenhouse gas emissions and is broadly the same in both developed and developing countries, the UN says.
Meanwhile in industrialised countries, emissions from fluorinated greenhouse gases, used in refrigeration, for example, have had a turbocharged effect on global warming, according to the report.
Refrigeration is responsible for nearly half of the energy consumption by the retail and supermarket sector, whose emissions have grown more than fourfold in Europe since 1990. Globally, the figure is about five percent of global food-system emissions but is expected to increase.
Packaging also accounts for a similar share of the emissions, or some 5.4 per cent, which is more than transportation or other supply chain factors.
Lisa was born in Auckland at the start of the 1970s, living in a small campsite community on the North Shore called Browns Bay. She spent a significant part of her life with her grandparents, often hanging out at the beaches. Lisa has many happy memories from those days at Browns Bay beach, where fish were plentiful on the point and the ocean was rich in seaweed. She played in the water for hours, going home totally “sun-kissed.” “An adorable time to grow up,” Lisa tells me.
Lisa enjoyed many sports; she was a keen tennis player and netballer, playing in the top teams for her age right up until the family moved to Wellington. Lisa was fifteen years old, which unfortunately marked the end of her sporting career. Local teams were well established in Wellington, and her attention was drawn elsewhere.