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).

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/agriculture/global-food-systems-emissions-alone-can-cause-global-warming-to-exceed-1-5-c-cse-report-81791