Page 4 - AWA Vol. 37-5 issue

OFF-FARM ACTIVITIES ARE A GROWING SHARE

OF FOOD-SYSTEM GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
EDITORIAL

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to land use impacts from land use change decreasing as economies
changes such as converting forests to agricultural land develop. Furthermore, the study highlights important
have been decreasing over the past 20 years, a decline differences among countries, with developed econ-
that has been counterbalanced by increased emissions omies per capita food systems emissions nearly twice
- notably high in industrialized countries - from off-farm those in developing countries.
activities before and after food production according to
Finally, the study offers an operational map to better
a new study led by the Food and Agriculture Organiza- identify food-relevant components in the national emis-
tion of the United Nations (FAO) and published today in
sions plans communicated to the United Nations Frame-
Environmental Resource Letters.
work Convention on Climate Change using Intergov-
The report, “Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Food ernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) categories.
6\VWHP %XLOGLQJ WKH (YLGHQFH %DVHr HVWLPDWHV WKDW Currently, countries report data in their Nationally De-
food-system emissions amounted to 16 billion tonnes WHUPLQHG &RQWULEXWLRQV EXW ODFN D SURSHU TXDQWLÞFDWLRQ
of carbon dioxide or equivalents (CO2eq) in 2018, an of food systems emissions within National Greenhouse
8 percent increase since 1990. They now represent 33 Gas Inventories (NGHGIs).
percent of all human-caused GHG emissions.
One emergent theme is that optimal GHG mitigation
Governments around the world are pledging to reduce strategies require a focus on activities before and after
their GHG emissions and pursue carbon neutrality, and farm production, ranging from the industrial production
many have included mitigation targets for their agricul- of fertilizers to refrigeration at the retail level, as this is
ture sectors in their national plans. However, action in the area where emissions are growing fastest - due in
food and agriculture goes well beyond impacts on farms part to a slowdown in deforestation.
and ecosystems. Analyzing emissions trends through
.H\ ÞQGLQJV
the broader lens of food systems offers additional in-
sights and opens a range of possible solutions across In 2018, GHG emissions from food systems were more
the entire food production and consumption chain. than 16 billion tonnes CO2eq, largely emitted in devel-
oping countries in terms of absolute amounts.
The new study provides rich data sets that are being
UHÞQHG DKHDG RI WKH 81pV )RRG 6\VWHPV 6XPPLW Global per capita emissions, which decreased from
with important components already available for con- 1990 to 2010 from 2.9 to 2.2 tonnes CO2eq, were char-
sultation here. It considers GHG emissions linked to acterized by important differences between developed
farm gate production, land use change at the bound- and developing economies. Per capita emissions in de-
ary between farms and natural ecosystems, and supply veloped countries, at 3.6 tonnes CO2eq in 2018, were
chains including consumption and waste disposal, to of- near twice those in developing countries.
fer a crisper and more granular assessment of trends at Farm-gate and pre and post-production emissions
the global, regional and country levels. (those largely along supply chains, consumption, and
Over recent decades food systems emissions, both in waste) represented two-thirds of the food systems total
absolute and per-capita levels, are increasingly domi- in 2018, with the role of emissions from land use change
nated by farm gate and supply chain processes, with the have decreased over time.

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