The food systems play a crucial role in the climate changeThe company's share in the total number of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and account for at least 15% of global GHG use. fossil fuelsand it is therefore urgent to take action for its decarbonizationreveals a report published by the Global Alliance for the Future of Food.
The document highlights that the food systems contribute to the climate change and are significantly affected by it, but they are also a crucial part of the solutions that are urgently needed to maintain the global warming below 1.5°C (2.7°F).
"Given that food systems contribute to one-third of all emissions driving the climate crisis, we highlight that changing the way we produce and consume food could reduce global GHG emissions by at least 10.3 gigatons per year, which is equivalent to 20% of the reduction needed by 2050 to stay below 1.5°C (2.7°F)," the report states.
The latest figures from the UN show that some 735 million people worldwide still face hunger and 3.1 billion cannot afford or do not have access to healthy diets, so the need to reform food systems to improve food security, improve nutrition, preserve nature and help stop the spread of hunger is very clear. climate change.
Food systems and energy
The report details that the industrial food systems and the fossil fuel industry are intertwined, because they consume a lot of energy throughout the value chain.
"We have calculated that food systems currently account for at least 15% of global fossil fuel use annually, generating as many emissions as all EU countries and Russia combined," he notes.
As regular food production and processing drives the demand for ultra-processed and energy-intensive foods, the use of fossil fuels will increase unless we drastically transform the food systems to break the link between food and fossil fuels, the report warns.
Fossil fuels play a crucial role in food production along all four stages of the value chain:
- Production of inputs
- Land use and agricultural production
- Processing and packaging
- Retail, consumption and waste
Energy is used to produce and package food, power machinery and equipment, fuel transportation systems, and for storage and cooking.
The vast majority of fossil fuel consumption occurs at the processing and packaging stage, as well as in retail, consumption and waste.
"We need to decouple food production from fossil fuel use if we are to halt catastrophic climate change. An urgent decarbonization of our food systems, through a rapid shift away from fossil fuels, is essential," he argues.
Actions to transform
In its report, the Global Alliance for the Future of Food believes that to avoid a deeper crisis than the one the world is already facing, actions must be identified and prioritized to help transform the energy and food sectors, increase resilience, reduce price volatility, improve food security and nutrition, contribute to a cleaner world and a healthier environment, and improve livelihoods while reducing emissions and enabling the transition to a low-carbon economy.
"Just as we need to fundamentally transform industrial food systems, energy systems based on renewables rather than fossil fuels also require fundamental changes to the grid and storage infrastructure that can integrate the diverse characteristics associated with different renewable energy sources," he says.
Decarbonized energy systems require us to reduce energy demand and change when and how we use it, he says.
To decouple food systems from fossil fuels, the report details a series of recommendations:
Phasing out agrochemicals and adopting regenerative and agroecological approaches.
- The use of environmentally friendly inputs, such as biofertilizers and low-carbon practices, such as agroecology and regenerative approaches, will make it possible to decouple food production from GHG emissions.
Review fiscal policies to contrast the negative externalities of energy production.
- Existing electricity subsidies for biogas production that unintentionally incentivize the growth of the industrial livestock industry need to be reviewed, as well as tax credits, subsidies and loans to increase the production of biofuel feedstocks such as soybeans and corn.
Switching to renewable-based cooling, heating and drying technologies.
- Renewable energy-based technologies for cooling, heating and drying agricultural products can generate multiple co-benefits with few resources in a short period of time.
Switching to renewable energies for food processing and transportation.
- Work with food processors to assess and minimize energy use, as well as switch to less processed foods to reduce emissions and associated environmental implications, and improve health outcomes. Currently, some food conglomerates are relying on energy grid decarbonization to facilitate their transition.
Ensure healthy, sustainable and fair food environments that support diets rich in vegetables and minimally processed foods.
- By moving to diets rich in minimally processed plants, particularly where meat and saturated fat consumption is high or growing to levels that put human and/or planetary health at risk, there is the potential to reduce the energy intensity of our food systems and GHG emissions by 49% while generating significant health co-benefits.
Track and address corporate consolidation in the agrochemical and food industries, while actively supporting a just transition through more inclusive and equitable governance and decision-making.
- With a trend of consolidation in the processing industry through food conglomerates, as well as among major petrochemical, plastics and agrochemical companies, governments must address the impacts of this consolidation. They must also enable new forms of participatory and equitable governance to counter vested interests in promoting and perpetuating extractive, fossil fuel and chemical dependent industrial food systems and highly processed foods.