Climate Transparency Will Define Zero Zero Food Market: Are Companies Doing Enough?

Fossil fuels and energy have rightfully taken the spotlight in the climate change discourse. People can instantly compare how buying an SUV or electric car will affect their climate footprint. But the same level of climate transparency remains elusive for consumers when it comes to the commodity they most frequently buy – food. food accounts for a third of global emissions. However, consumers who want to do their part to reduce those emissions can’t tell about climate-smart food just by looking at it. Or can they?

Most of the time, it’s not just consumers who can’t discern the climate footprint of food products on store shelves, decision makers within the food system are facing the same problem, and for legitimate reasons. Adapted to serve an ever-growing global population, the food supply chain has grown rapidly in complexity, with little comprehensive tracking. With most emissions from food products due to agriculture, few companies that provide our daily bread have this depth of climate transparency to their supply chain. But to make food a competitive area for emissions reductions, like the energy or automotive industries, climate transparency throughout the supply chain is essential. No single food producer can provide climate transparency.

Climate tech entrepreneur Dr. David Bryngelson, Founder and CEO of CarbonCloud, talks about the need for more transparency across the entire supply chain

Fossil fuels and energy have rightfully taken the spotlight in the climate change discourse. People can instantly compare how buying an SUV or electric car will affect their climate footprint. But the same level of climate transparency remains elusive for consumers when it comes to the commodity they most frequently buy – food. food accounts for a third of global emissions. However, consumers who want to do their part to reduce those emissions can’t tell about climate-smart food just by looking at it. Or can they?

Most of the time, it’s not just consumers who can’t discern the climate footprint of food products on store shelves, decision makers within the food system are facing the same problem, and for legitimate reasons. Adapted to serve an ever-growing global population, the food supply chain has grown rapidly in complexity, with little comprehensive tracking. With most emissions from food products due to agriculture, few companies that provide our daily bread have this depth of climate transparency to their supply chain. But to make food a competitive area for emissions reductions, like the energy or automobile industries, climate transparency throughout the supply chain is essential. No single food producer can provide climate transparency.

Figure 1: Average Percentage Emissions per Supply Chain Stage for 10,000 Branded Food Products on Store Shelves in the US: Sheet 2