March 28, 2024

Raising Ambitions for Food Systems and Climate Change

Raising Ambitions for Food Systems and Environment Change

by
Erik Mencos Contreras|September 20, 2021

To that end, members of the Food Climate Partnership have actually also contributed to recent publications that improve the quantification of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the food system. As a result of this work, as well as existing FAO research on energy usage in food systems, a new version of the FAOSTAT Emissions Shares domain is undergoing its final stages of peer evaluation. As soon as released, users will have access to time series of the share of food and agriculture emissions to total emissions from all sectors of the economy for the duration 1990-2019. This upgrade extends and considerably broadens the previous version, by including estimates of emissions from food systems, as well as covering the full spectrum from farm-gate and land utilize modification to pre- and post-production activities.

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The Food Climate Partnership (FCP)– a consortium of scientists and policy specialists from Columbia Universitys Center for Climate Systems Research (CCSR) and Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP), New York Universitys School of Environmental Studies (NYU), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)– is hosting an event on Tuesday, September 21 throughout New York Citys Climate Week 2021: Raising Ambitions for Food Systems and Climate Change by Uniting Science and Policy.
The occasion, co-hosted by the brand-new Columbia Climate School, intends to unite leading specialists from the food systems science and policy research neighborhoods, with opening remarks from New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, present member of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee. The event will likewise help develop the nascent food program at the Climate School, and ensure that the “Fourth Purpose” of the university is enshrined in the DNA of its food systems work.
The FCPs objective is to offer “much better information, much better policy, and much better outreach” worrying the food system and climate change, by adopting a “double helix” approach– incorporating science and policy– to help create a more sustainable low-carbon and nutritious food system.
To that end, members of the Food Climate Partnership have actually also contributed to recent publications that enhance the quantification of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the food system. “Emissions of greenhouse gases from energy use in farming, forestry and fisheries: 1970– 2019” released in Earth System Science Data, supplies updated numbers on energy use-related emissions created within the farm gate for crop and livestock production and from fisheries. Use of electrical power and the associated indirect emissions increased three-fold over the 1990– 2019 duration, ending up being the biggest emissions source from energy use in farming since 2005.
“Methods for estimating greenhouse gas emissions from food systems: Domestic food transportation,” part of the FAO Statistics Working Paper Series, supplies an approach for estimating the GHG emissions related to existing and historic domestic food transport, in an effort to inform countries of the environmental effect of their food circulation systems. The paper responds to the call of the approaching Food Systems Summit, held in combination with Climate Week, to define the function of food and agriculture to speed up achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
As an outcome of this work, along with existing FAO research study on energy usage in food systems, a new variation of the FAOSTAT Emissions Shares domain is undergoing its lasts of peer evaluation. Once released, users will have access to time series of the share of food and farming emissions to total emissions from all sectors of the economy for the period 1990-2019. This update extends and greatly broadens the previous version, by including estimates of emissions from food systems, in addition to covering the complete spectrum from farm-gate and land use change to pre- and post-production activities.
The Food Climate Partnership, in partnership with the Columbia Climate School, will continue to advance sustainable and healthy food systems around the world by conducting innovative interdisciplinary research study, convening policymakers and essential stakeholders from energy, farming, and public health, and making sure that sustainable development concerns are evidence-based and impact-oriented.