The global agrifood system emits nearly one third of the world’s greenhouse gases, far more than previously thought, when hopes of limiting global warming will require net-zero emissions from the sector by 2050, said the World Bank. “Now is the time to drastically reorient the agrifood system, as its current form is pushing the planet beyond its operating limits.”
In a report, “Recipe for a Livable Planet,” the World Bank said the ingredients for agrifood transformation were already in the global pantry. They ranged from elimination of meat and dairy subsidies in the industrialized world to reducing rice and livestock emissions in middle-income countries and preserving forests in low-income countries where half of agrifood emissions come from clearing forests for cropland.
One third of agricultural subsidies worldwide were directed toward meat and dairy products in 2016, said the report in discussing the role that high-income nations could play. “Indeed, studies have found that meat prices would need to increase by 20-60 percent, depending on meat type, to reflect the true health, climate, and environmental costs of meat. Repurposing red meat and dairy subsidies toward low-emission foods, like poultry or fruits and vegetables, could lead to significant changes in consumption patterns and large emissions reductions.”
Wealthy nations could aid the agrifood transformation by giving more support to middle- and low-income countries for adoption of low-emission farming practices and technologies, said the World Bank.
Agriculture and food were mainly left alone during the early efforts to reduce global emissions, said the report. But the huge volume of greenhouse gases created in producing the world’s food supply can no longer be ignored. “Now is the time to put agriculture and food at the top of the mitigation agenda,” it said.
“The good news is that the global food system can heal the planet – making soils, ecosystems, and people healthier, while keeping carbon in the ground,” said Axel van Trotsenburg, World Bank senior managing director. “This is within reach in our lifetimes, but countries must act now: simply changing how middle-income countries use land, such as forests and ecosystems, for food production can cut agrifood emissions by a third by 2030.”