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Food systems responsible for ‘one third’ of human-caused emissions

Sustainable Inclusive Business
March 16, 2021

News & Blog

‘Food systems’ were responsible for 34 per cent of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions in 2015, according to new research.

Food systems responsible for ‘one third’ of human-caused emissions — A trailer spreads liquid manure on a field owned by Mercer Vu Farms in Mercersburg. Processes that separate out solids from the manure have reduced transportation costs and allowed the farm to more precisely apply nutrients, reducing pollution and reducing its carbon footprint. Image: Chesapeake Bay Program, via Flickr. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Ayesha Tandon, Carbon Brief

March 10, 2021

The study, published in Nature Food, presents EDGAR-FOOD – the first database to break down emissions from each stage of the food chain for every year from 1990 to 2015. The database also unpacks emissions by sector, greenhouse gas and country.

According to the study, 71 per cent of food emissions in 2015 came from agriculture and “associated land use and land-use change activities” (LULUC).

The rest stemmed from retail, transport, consumption, fuel production, waste management, industrial processes and packaging. Read more