The food system has tremendous potential to contribute to climate change solutions while helping to meet global food demand, reducing dependence on inorganic fertilizers, improving soil and human health, and achieving sustainable development goals. Currently, the food system is a large source of global greenhouse gas emissions. In 2015, 18 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent were emitted to the atmosphere from the food system, amounting to 34% of total global emissions. China was responsible for the largest proportion of food system emissions (13.5%) followed by Indonesia (8.8%) and the U.S. (8.2%). This paper explores opportunities to improve the outlook for a more climate-friendly global food system.
Authors:
- Whendee L. Silver, University of California, Berkeley*
- Tyler L. Anthony, University of California, Berkeley*
- Charlotte Kwong, University of California, Berkeley*
- Alexandra Ponomareva, University of California, Berkeley*
- Tibisay Perez, University of California, Berkeley*
* Organizations are noted for affiliation purposes only. This paper represents authors’ views, and not necessarily those of their institutions.
