COP29, recognized as the finance summit, convened experts, leaders, and influential global figures to discuss the roadmap necessary to mitigate the environmental impact of human activities. This edition marked a significant milestone: by 2035, climate finance for developing countries will triple—an essential step toward advancing climate justice and safeguarding the most vulnerable communities.
While negotiations produced notable progress in some areas, they also underscored the stark differences between countries’ economic and social realities. Transitioning to a low-carbon economy requires innovation, collaboration, and a profound reevaluation of political and social priorities.
With Brazil preparing to host COP30, expectations are high for bridging these gaps and accelerating global efforts to confront the climate crisis.
What is a Carbon footprint? Meaning and importance
A “carbon footprint” refers to the total volume of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted by industries, companies, individuals, and other entities due to their activities, both directly and indirectly.
To assess how to reduce the carbon footprint in the food industry, it is crucial to measure the emissions of gases such as methane, CO2, nitrogen oxide, and perfluorocarbons. Understanding how to calculate the carbon footprint of a company is essential for any organization aiming to reduce its environmental impact.
However, this calculation does not depend only on the type of gas produced, so there are a series of common guidelines for European countries on how to measure a business carbon footprint.
In the food industry, the carbon footprint is particularly significant due to the extensive supply chains involved in the production, transportation, storage, and preparation of food products. From farm to table, every step of the food production process can generate carbon emissions, and understanding these emissions is the first step in addressing them.
How to calculate carbon footprint of a company
As a result of the efforts made by the international community to reduce the damage caused to the environment by human activity, companies are increasingly interested in being able to calculate their contribution to this degradation.
To calculate carbon footprint of a company, businesses typically need to assess the emissions from all activities across their operations, including energy use, transportation, and waste generation. Many companies use carbon footprint calculators, often provided by environmental consulting firms, which take into account a range of factors like the type of energy used, transportation distances, and the volume of waste produced.
The process involves the following steps:
- Identifying the emission sources within your operations (e.g., energy consumption, transport).
- Calculating the amount of CO2 and other GHGs emitted by each source.
- Compiling this data into a total carbon footprint.
This calculation helps businesses pinpoint the areas where they can take action to reduce emissions and track their progress over time.
The UNE EN 14067 standard, later modified by UNE-EN ISO 14064-1:2019, establishes guidelines for the calculation of a business carbon footprint. Among the most important factors is the classification of carbon footprints into: product’s carbon footprint, corporative carbon footprint and event’s carbon footprint.
- A product’s carbon footprint is similar to the concept of “life cycle costing” in that it also takes into account all aspects linked to a particular product, which includes, in the case of the carbon footprint measurement, the emissions produced during the extraction of materials, the production phase, the use of the product, and during its transformation into a residue.
- An event’s carbon footprint is understood as the compendium of all the emissions derived from the organization and celebration of concerts, exhibitions, etc.
- The corporative carbon footprint estimates all GHG emissions associated with a company’s activity.
How to reduce carbon footprint in Food Industry
Once a company has calculated its environmental impact, it is crucial to address how to reduce carbon footprint in food industry or any sector. Here are several ways to reduce carbon footprint in food industry:
- Optimizing Energy Use: By adopting energy-efficient technologies in production processes and switching to renewable energy sources, food companies can significantly reduce their carbon emissions.
- Reducing Food Waste: Food waste is a major contributor to carbon emissions, particularly when discarded food is sent to landfills where it produces methane. Companies can reduce waste by improving inventory management, donating unsold goods, or finding alternative uses for surplus items.
- Sustainable Sourcing: The carbon footprint of raw materials used in food production can be reduced by sourcing sustainably grown ingredients. Choosing local suppliers and promoting organic or regenerative farming practices helps cut down on transportation-related emissions and fosters long-term environmental sustainability.
- Adopting Efficient Transportation Practices: The transportation of raw materials and finished goods to various markets is a significant source of emissions in the food industry. By optimizing delivery routes, investing in electric vehicles, and using eco-friendly packaging, companies can reduce their carbon footprint.
- Recycling and Waste Management: Reducing, reusing, and recycling packaging materials, as well as improving waste management processes, can help food businesses minimize their overall environmental impact.
- Raising awareness of the importance of energy efficiency among the workforce.
- Buying CO2 on the carbon market.
However, in the long term, this series of proposals will not be enough. In order to avoid jeopardizing their viability, industries will be obliged to cooperate with all the public and private organizations that are already committed to the decarbonization of the economy.
Decarbonized economy: industrial descarbonization
In spite of descarbonization require a strong initial investment, this process has already provided with significant economic and social benefits.
Europe is the region that has advanced the most in the transformation of its economy. Its strategy has been creating legislation (such as the European Green Deal) and establishing objectives (such as those proposed at the Glasgow Summit) that are common to all the EU. A good example of this is Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 2021 establishing the framework for achieving climate neutrality, which sets 2050 as the deadline for the achievement of carbon neutrality. This regulation has also made the 2030 target more ambitious, aiming to reduce CO2 emissions in Europe by at least 55%.
However, these profound transformations of the productive fabric will not occur without sufficient financial resources. An example of this is the Next Generation EU, for whose receipt the Member States (MS) must present innovative projects that strengthen the decarbonization process. Therefore, the private sector must bear in mind that, from now on, regulations and plans related to decarbonization will be integrated into other key policies.
The “Fit for 55 package” and the Long-Term Strategy for a Modern, Competitive and Climate Neutral Spanish Economy in 2050 (ELP 2050) perfectly illustrate this multiperspectivity. The former consists of a set of ideas to boost the reduction of net GHG emissions by at least 55% by 2030, but it complements energy, land use, climate, transport and tax policies with, for example, binding targets for the number of charging points for electric vehicles and hydrogen stations.
Achieving a decarbonized economy is undoubtedly a monumental challenge, but it presents significant opportunities for businesses ready to take the lead in industrial decarbonization. By adopting comprehensive decarbonization strategies, industries can contribute to a cleaner, more sustainable future. Companies that act now will not only meet regulatory demands but will also position themselves as leaders in the transition to a low-carbon, sustainable economy, reducing CO2 emissions in Europe while enhancing their long-term competitiveness.
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