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How low can we go? Assessing the UK’s food emissions and the scope for reduction

How low can we go? Assessing the UK’s food emissions and the scope for reduction. Adam Harrison, Senior Policy Officer: Food and Agriculture Low Carbon Food Conference Fairmont Hotel, St Andrews, 25 th August 2009. What is sustainable food?. Healthy, safe and nutritious

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How low can we go? Assessing the UK’s food emissions and the scope for reduction

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  1. How low can we go?Assessing the UK’s food emissions and the scope for reduction Adam Harrison, Senior Policy Officer: Food and Agriculture Low Carbon Food Conference Fairmont Hotel, St Andrews, 25th August 2009

  2. What is sustainable food? • Healthy, safe and nutritious • Gives people a fair and equitable living • Within environmental limits

  3. What is environmentally sustainable food? Global big hitters: • No loss of valuable habitats or harm to wildlife • No adverse impacts on freshwater particularly in dry places • Much lower climate emissions • No soil degradation • No toxic pollution to the environment

  4. Wildlife • 33% of the world’s surface is already used for agriculture • 13 M hectares of forest lost a year • 52% of global fish stocks are being fished at their biological limit

  5. Freshwater • 70% of water use is for agriculture – 60% is wasted • Each of us uses 150 litres a day of ‘real’ water and 4,500 litres of ‘virtual’ water • The UK is the sixth largest net importer of water in the world

  6. Climate change • Scottish Climate Change Act • 80% by 2050 • 42% by 2020 • 3% annual targets • Aviation and shipping • Consumption reporting

  7. Production, consumption or …? • UK food & drink production emissions • 100 Million tonnes of CO2 equivalent • UK food & drink consumption emissions • 139.2 Mt • Overseas land use change driven by UK consumption • 230.8 Mt

  8. More complex than heat and power • Imports and exports make food and drink consumption emissions more important than production emissions • Not just energy use and carbon dioxide • Nitrous oxide • Methane • Highly uncertain and very poor data • How low can we go? - Food Climate Research Network and WWF

  9. 230.8Mt 100 Mt

  10. Food & Drink Industry emissions:

  11. Opportunities to reduce emissions • Decarbonise UK energy • c. 70 Mt ~ 30% • Scotland has ambitious renewable electricity targets • Heat and transport are weaker • Supply chain efficiencies • c. 80 Mt ~ 35% • Businesses can reduce waste, AD, efficient energy use and distribution • Farming is a harder proposition

  12. Opportunities to reduce emissions • Consumer behaviour change • 30-50 Mt ~ 15-20% • Diet is the biggest single influence • Reducing livestock consumption is the biggest single change • 100% vegetarian = 30 Mt • 66% less meat = 22.5 Mt • Tackle deforestation • 91 Mt • Certification

  13. Conclusions • Need to tackle consumption not just production • Even 70% food & drink reductions will be hard to achieve • Take responsibility for your supply chains and not just your own operations ~ farming and land use change • Government needs to decarbonise energy • Industry needs to produce and source efficiently • Consumers needs to change their behaviour

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