Global food systems emissions
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Context: A report by Delhi-based non-profit Centre for Science and Environment state that Global food systems emissions alone can cause global warming to exceed 1.5°C over pre-industrial levels, the limit set by the Paris Agreement.
Key findings of Down to Earth’s annual State of India’s Environment 2022:
- Human food systems across the world emit more than transportation (14 per cent of global GHG emissions) and energy use in buildings (16 per cent).
- Food systems refer to the complete process ranging from food production and consumption to its distribution and disposal.
- Emissions from food practices are almost as much as industry (21 per cent) and electricity production (25 per cent).
- The food practices of human beings account for 21-37 per cent of the total volume of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted every year due to human activities.
- Plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, but they also release large amounts of the gas when decomposing.
- Felling of trees to make way for farms and pastures removes a major carbon sink. Operation of farm machinery using fossil fuels, or manufacture of agrochemicals and fertilisers also emit GHGs.
- Reducing land-use change and conversion of natural habitat alone could lower emissions by 4.6 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e).
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