Harmonizing food systems emissions accounting for more effective climate action

Food systems—encompassing activities in food production, land-use change, supply chains and waste management—contribute significantly to climate change. Recent estimates indicate that food systems produce over 30% of annual anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (about 20% of CO2, 50% of CH4,...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Karl, Kevin, Tubiello, Francesco Nicola, Crippa, Monica, Poore, Joseph, Hayek, Matthew N., Benoit, Philippe, Cheng, Minpeng, Corbeels, Marc, Flammini, Alessandro, Garland, Sarah, Leip, Adrian, McClelland, Shelby C., Mencos, Erik, Sandalow, David, Quadrelli, Roberta, Sapkota, Tek, Rosenzweig, Cynthia
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: IOP Publishing Ltd. 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/180152
_version_ 1855530060703858688
author Karl, Kevin
Tubiello, Francesco Nicola
Crippa, Monica
Poore, Joseph
Hayek, Matthew N.
Benoit, Philippe
Cheng, Minpeng
Corbeels, Marc
Flammini, Alessandro
Garland, Sarah
Leip, Adrian
McClelland, Shelby C.
Mencos, Erik
Sandalow, David
Quadrelli, Roberta
Sapkota, Tek
Rosenzweig, Cynthia
author_browse Benoit, Philippe
Cheng, Minpeng
Corbeels, Marc
Crippa, Monica
Flammini, Alessandro
Garland, Sarah
Hayek, Matthew N.
Karl, Kevin
Leip, Adrian
McClelland, Shelby C.
Mencos, Erik
Poore, Joseph
Quadrelli, Roberta
Rosenzweig, Cynthia
Sandalow, David
Sapkota, Tek
Tubiello, Francesco Nicola
author_facet Karl, Kevin
Tubiello, Francesco Nicola
Crippa, Monica
Poore, Joseph
Hayek, Matthew N.
Benoit, Philippe
Cheng, Minpeng
Corbeels, Marc
Flammini, Alessandro
Garland, Sarah
Leip, Adrian
McClelland, Shelby C.
Mencos, Erik
Sandalow, David
Quadrelli, Roberta
Sapkota, Tek
Rosenzweig, Cynthia
author_sort Karl, Kevin
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Food systems—encompassing activities in food production, land-use change, supply chains and waste management—contribute significantly to climate change. Recent estimates indicate that food systems produce over 30% of annual anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (about 20% of CO2, 50% of CH4, and 75% of N2O), with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimating a notably broad range of 23%–42% of global GHG emissions. This paper synthesizes current research on the contributions of food systems to climate change, highlights challenges in quantifying their impact and proposes a harmonized accounting framework for more effective climate action. We recommend that an expert committee aligned with the IPCC develop guidance for food systems emissions accounting in four key areas, including: (1) defining system boundaries and nomenclature; (2) developing protocols to allocate broader sectoral emissions to food systems; (3) prioritizing critical areas for research into activity data and emissions factors; and (4) developing a balanced framework for evaluating the impact of mitigation interventions in light of other food systems imperatives. The committee should be integrated into two key international policy processes—the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the United Nations Food Systems Summit—to support coordinated action towards global net-zero goals. Guidance from the committee could significantly improve the ability of governments, companies, and researchers to estimate, report, monitor and ultimately reduce the climate impacts of food systems.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace180152
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2025
publishDateRange 2025
publishDateSort 2025
publisher IOP Publishing Ltd.
publisherStr IOP Publishing Ltd.
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1801522026-01-20T02:09:32Z Harmonizing food systems emissions accounting for more effective climate action Karl, Kevin Tubiello, Francesco Nicola Crippa, Monica Poore, Joseph Hayek, Matthew N. Benoit, Philippe Cheng, Minpeng Corbeels, Marc Flammini, Alessandro Garland, Sarah Leip, Adrian McClelland, Shelby C. Mencos, Erik Sandalow, David Quadrelli, Roberta Sapkota, Tek Rosenzweig, Cynthia food systems climate change mitigation greenhouse gas emissions Food systems—encompassing activities in food production, land-use change, supply chains and waste management—contribute significantly to climate change. Recent estimates indicate that food systems produce over 30% of annual anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (about 20% of CO2, 50% of CH4, and 75% of N2O), with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimating a notably broad range of 23%–42% of global GHG emissions. This paper synthesizes current research on the contributions of food systems to climate change, highlights challenges in quantifying their impact and proposes a harmonized accounting framework for more effective climate action. We recommend that an expert committee aligned with the IPCC develop guidance for food systems emissions accounting in four key areas, including: (1) defining system boundaries and nomenclature; (2) developing protocols to allocate broader sectoral emissions to food systems; (3) prioritizing critical areas for research into activity data and emissions factors; and (4) developing a balanced framework for evaluating the impact of mitigation interventions in light of other food systems imperatives. The committee should be integrated into two key international policy processes—the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the United Nations Food Systems Summit—to support coordinated action towards global net-zero goals. Guidance from the committee could significantly improve the ability of governments, companies, and researchers to estimate, report, monitor and ultimately reduce the climate impacts of food systems. 2025 2026-01-19T17:51:25Z 2026-01-19T17:51:25Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/180152 en Open Access application/pdf IOP Publishing Ltd. Karl, K., Tubiello, F. N., Crippa, M., Poore, J., Hayek, M. N., Benoit, P., Chen, M., Corbeels, M., Flammini, A., Garland, S., Leip, A., McClelland, S. C., Mencos Contreras, E., Sandalow, D., Quadrelli, R., Sapkota, T. B., & Rosenzweig, C. (2025). Harmonizing food systems emissions accounting for more effective climate action. Environmental Research Food Systems, 2(1), 015001. https://doi.org/10.1088/2976-601x/ad8fb3
spellingShingle food systems
climate change
mitigation
greenhouse gas emissions
Karl, Kevin
Tubiello, Francesco Nicola
Crippa, Monica
Poore, Joseph
Hayek, Matthew N.
Benoit, Philippe
Cheng, Minpeng
Corbeels, Marc
Flammini, Alessandro
Garland, Sarah
Leip, Adrian
McClelland, Shelby C.
Mencos, Erik
Sandalow, David
Quadrelli, Roberta
Sapkota, Tek
Rosenzweig, Cynthia
Harmonizing food systems emissions accounting for more effective climate action
title Harmonizing food systems emissions accounting for more effective climate action
title_full Harmonizing food systems emissions accounting for more effective climate action
title_fullStr Harmonizing food systems emissions accounting for more effective climate action
title_full_unstemmed Harmonizing food systems emissions accounting for more effective climate action
title_short Harmonizing food systems emissions accounting for more effective climate action
title_sort harmonizing food systems emissions accounting for more effective climate action
topic food systems
climate change
mitigation
greenhouse gas emissions
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/180152
work_keys_str_mv AT karlkevin harmonizingfoodsystemsemissionsaccountingformoreeffectiveclimateaction
AT tubiellofrancesconicola harmonizingfoodsystemsemissionsaccountingformoreeffectiveclimateaction
AT crippamonica harmonizingfoodsystemsemissionsaccountingformoreeffectiveclimateaction
AT poorejoseph harmonizingfoodsystemsemissionsaccountingformoreeffectiveclimateaction
AT hayekmatthewn harmonizingfoodsystemsemissionsaccountingformoreeffectiveclimateaction
AT benoitphilippe harmonizingfoodsystemsemissionsaccountingformoreeffectiveclimateaction
AT chengminpeng harmonizingfoodsystemsemissionsaccountingformoreeffectiveclimateaction
AT corbeelsmarc harmonizingfoodsystemsemissionsaccountingformoreeffectiveclimateaction
AT flamminialessandro harmonizingfoodsystemsemissionsaccountingformoreeffectiveclimateaction
AT garlandsarah harmonizingfoodsystemsemissionsaccountingformoreeffectiveclimateaction
AT leipadrian harmonizingfoodsystemsemissionsaccountingformoreeffectiveclimateaction
AT mcclellandshelbyc harmonizingfoodsystemsemissionsaccountingformoreeffectiveclimateaction
AT mencoserik harmonizingfoodsystemsemissionsaccountingformoreeffectiveclimateaction
AT sandalowdavid harmonizingfoodsystemsemissionsaccountingformoreeffectiveclimateaction
AT quadrelliroberta harmonizingfoodsystemsemissionsaccountingformoreeffectiveclimateaction
AT sapkotatek harmonizingfoodsystemsemissionsaccountingformoreeffectiveclimateaction
AT rosenzweigcynthia harmonizingfoodsystemsemissionsaccountingformoreeffectiveclimateaction