According to Cities and Circular Economy for
Food,
excessive use of pesticides, antibiotics in livestock farming, and poor
management of fertilizers could lead to 5 million deaths a year globally by
2050 — that is twice the current number of deaths caused by obesity and four
times the number due to road traffic crashes.
The report, launched today at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in
Davos, highlights the enormous environmental damage caused by food
production. Synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and mismanaged manure exacerbate
air pollution and contaminate soils and water. Food production is currently
responsible for almost a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Even when trying to make healthy food choices, consumers are at risk because of
the way food has been produced. To ensure people around the globe can eat
healthily, we must not only consider what we eat, but how it is produced. Here,
the EMF sets out a vision for a new system — in which food is grown locally and
in a way that regenerates natural resources, waste is eliminated through better
redistribution and byproduct use, and healthy food is produced without the need
for harmful practices.
“The way we produce food today is not only extremely wasteful and damaging to
the environment, it is causing serious health problems,” said Dame Ellen
MacArthur.
“It cannot continue in the long term; we urgently need to redesign the system.”
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The report finds that eliminating waste and improving health through a circular
economy could be worth US$2.7 trillion a year to the global economy. Health
costs caused by pesticide use would decrease by $550 billion a year; and
antimicrobial resistance, air pollution, water contamination and food-borne
diseases would reduce significantly. Greenhouse gas emissions would be expected
to decrease by 4.3 Gt CO2e, the equivalent of taking one billion cars off the
road permanently. The degradation of 15 million hectares of arable land would be
prevented and 450 trillion liters of fresh water saved annually.
Cities are key to this food revolution: By 2050, they will consume 80 percent of
food, giving them the power to drive the shift to this healthy system. Cities
themselves can unlock US$700 billion a year by using organic materials to help
produce new food and products, and by reducing edible food
waste.
The publication of Cities and Circular Economy for Food follows the launch
yesterday of another EMF report that examines how artificial intelligence could
be applied to create a regenerative, circular economy for food and
agriculture;
as well as last week’s release of the EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet,
Health.
Dr Gunhild Stordalen, founder and executive chair of EAT, said: “We
cannot achieve a healthy planet and healthy population without a fundamental
transformation of our entire food system. Cities and Circular Economy for Food
describes an approach starting with cities and presents a vision of a future
where the way we produce and consume food contributes to environmental and
health benefits, instead of damaging human health and the environment. Achieving
this is urgent, but no quick fix will get us there. We do have the knowledge and
tools to act — and the circular economy approach will be a critical component.”
The report was written with analytical support from SYSTEMIQ. Founder and
managing partner Martin Stuchtey said: “As pressures on the food system
continue to mount — expanding urbanisation, doubling of food demand, increasing
food waste, and growing health, environmental and economic costs — it is time to
step back and reconsider our actions. The concept of a circular and regenerative
food system offers entirely new solutions, driven by reconnecting urban
consumers with food production. Our analysis shows this is an economically
attractive opportunity we cannot afford to ignore.”
The report was made possible by philanthropic partners Calouste Gulbenkian
Foundation, players of People’s Postcode Lottery and Porticus; in
collaboration with lead partners Intesa Sanpaolo and Intesa Sanpaolo
Innovation Center; and core partners Danone, Sitra, Suez, Tetra
Pak and Veolia.
Cities and Circular Economy for Food is an affiliate project of the World
Economic Forum’s Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE).
The report has been produced as part of Project Mainstream, a CEO-led global
initiative created by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the World Economic
Forum, which helps to scale business-driven circular economy innovations.
Key data and examples
For every US$1 spent on food, society pays $2 in health, environmental and
economic costs. These negative impacts cost $5.7 trillion each year — as much
as obesity, malnutrition, and other food consumption issues combined. These
costs are related to:
-
Extraction of finite resources: Vast amounts of phosphorus, potassium, and
other finite resources are used in farming. From tractors on the field to
food-processing plants and fleets of distribution trucks, most activities in
the food system still rely on fossil fuels. For every calorie of food
consumed in the US, the equivalent energy of 13 calories of oil are burned
to produce it.
-
Waste: Today, aside from our thousands of tons of preventable food waste each year, less than 2 percent of the valuable nutrients in food by-products and human waste in cities are valorized safely and productively. Instead, these nutrients are typically
destined for landfill, incinerators or, worse, languish in open dumps or are
released untreated, where they pose health hazards to nearby residents and
the environment.
-
Pollution: Pesticides and synthetic fertilizers used in conventional farming
practices, along with mismanagement of manure, can exacerbate air pollution,
contaminate soils, and leach chemicals into water supplies. Poor management
of food waste and by-products generated during food processing,
distribution, and packaging further pollutes water, particularly in emerging
economies. The agrifood industry is the world’s second-largest emitter of
greenhouse gases, responsible for about 25 percent of all human-caused
emissions.
-
Degradation of natural capital: Each year, poor agricultural practices degrade natural capital — 15 million hectares of arable land are lost; approximately 70 percent of global freshwater demand is used for agriculture; and the industry was responsible for about 73 percent of deforestation between 2000 and 2010.
If nothing changes?
Air pollution and water contamination, along with antimicrobial resistance
exacerbated by antibiotics use in animal farming and inadequately treated
wastewaters, could contribute to the aforementioned 5 million deaths a year
globally by 2050. The food system alone will have used up two-thirds of the
remaining global carbon budget remaining to have a reasonable chance of limiting
global warming to 1.5°C or less compared to pre-industrial levels.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Jan 23, 2019 11pm EST / 8pm PST / 4am GMT / 5am CET