The need for international agreement to hold back global warming is as obvious as it is urgent. But WWF UK chair and former Tesco boss Sir Dave Lewis asks: where is the focus on food?
Despite a year of record temperatures, extreme weather and devastating wildfires, diplomatic efforts remain tortuously slow ahead of the most important climate summit in a generation, COP26 in Glasgow. And while climate action is front and centre, the role of food is not.
It is an oversight that could fatally undermine our efforts. Avoiding irreversible damage from climate change, feeding growing populations and restoring nature is a triple-challenge that cannot be addressed without fixing the food system.
“If food waste was a country, it would rank as the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases after the USA and China”
The world needs to change the way it grows, produces, moves, packages and consumes food. We must move towards a regenerative system that actively reduces the strain on finite natural resources at every point from field and factory to plate.
For those sceptical about the need for food to be on the frontline of change, the numbers speak for themselves. Agriculture uses half the habitable land on earth – huge areas are converted to grow food for livestock, threatening nature and forests.
Food production causes 60% of global biodiversity loss and 70% of the planet’s accessible water is in the food system.
Global wildlife populations have plummeted by an average of 68% since 1970, driven by habitat loss and degradation. The biggest cause of deforestation worldwide is meat production.
Using land differently is critical. If we gave 21% of the UK’s least productive land to nature, we would produce just 3% fewer calories.
Looking globally, every year we need another area equivalent to 88% of our own landmass to meet the demand for food commodities like beef, cocoa, palm oil and soy.
Show global leadership
Food is responsible for more than 30% of human-made greenhouse gas emissions. There has been no reduction in UK agricultural emissions since 2008. That has to change.
Nearly one third of food produced is wasted. If food waste was a country, it would rank as the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases after the USA and China, responsible for between 8% and 10% of global emissions.
Continue as we are now and agricultural emissions will take 70% of the carbon budget available in 2050 to keep global warming to the safe upper limit of 1.5°C. That will compromise the functioning of whole economies.
While some of the out-of-home food sector is lagging badly behind, retail is moving in the right direction. But both must go further and faster to lead the way
“Sustainability will become part of the value equation we all weigh up in what we buy and where we work. There will be no hiding from those choices”
Working with Tesco, WWF identified the most pressing issues – from deforestation to consumer diets – setting out what was needed to halve the environmental impact of average UK shopping baskets.
The WWF Basket guides action across the supply chain, from setting tougher emissions targets to exploring replacements for soy in animal feed.
Clearly, there is much more to do, but there is proof it can be done and in a way that still benefits business.
There is significant potential for innovation here. Action can generate growth as well as demonstrating responsibility. In that spirit, the work between WWF and Tesco is focused on transforming the whole of the UK food system.
If that still sounds too much like altruism at the expense of business, then consider shoppers and employees. Customer mood is shifting; so are the views of workers.
Sustainability will become part of the value equation we all weigh up in what we buy and where we work. Ultimately, there will be no hiding from those choices.
The time for action is now. If we can reduce the environmental footprint of the food we eat, the UK can show global leadership and help to drive change around the world.
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