FCRN Publications
Synthesis papers | Working papers | Conference/journal papers | Commissioned work | Briefing papers
Synthesis papers
Cooking up a storm: Food, greenhouse gas emissions and our changing climate
This report sets out what we know about the food system’s contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Taking a life cycle perspective, it looks at how these emissions arise, both by life cycle stage (from plough to plate to bin) and by food type. It then explores the flip side of the coin: the global impact of a changing climate on how we grow, distribute, produce and consume food. We follow this with a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of and challenges for the life cycle analysis methodology upon which the report has drawn.
Click on the pdf icon to download the main report, or the Excel icon to download the Appendix document. You can download the summary document here.
Tara Garnett
September 2008
Working papers
Food refrigeration: What is the contribution to Greenhouse Gas emissions and how might emissions be reduced?
Working paper produced as part of the work of the Food Climate Research Network
Tara Garnett
April 2007
Meat and dairy production & consumption: Exploring the livestock sector’s contribution to the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions and assessing what less greenhouse gas intensive systems of production and consumption might look like
This paper explores the contribution that our consumption of livestock products in the UK makes to greenhouse gases, the complexities associated with attempts at quantifying these impacts, the options for mitigation and the environmental and welfare challenges these options may present.
Tara Garnett
November 2007
The Alcohol we drink and its contribution to the UK's Greenhouse Gas emissions: A discussion paper
Working paper produced as part of the work of the Food Climate Research Network
Tara Garnett
February 2007
Fruit and vegetables and UK Greenhouse Gas emissions: Exploring the relationship
Working paper produced as part of the work of the Food Climate Research Network
Tara Garnett
February 2007
Conference papers & journal articles
Agriculture and Copenhagen: priorities and possibilities
Notes from a presentation given at an event organised by the Food Ethics Council in September 2009. The focus is on how and if agricultural GHG emissions would be discussed at the Copenhagen agreement and whether they would form part of any possible (and now increasingly precarious) agreement that might emerge from them.
Tara Garnett 2009
Livestock-related greenhouse gas emissions: impacts and options for policy makers
Published in Environmental Science and Policy
Research shows that livestock account for a significant proportion of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and global consumption of livestock products is growing rapidly. This paper reviews the life cycle analysis (LCA) approach to quantifying these emissions and argues that, given the dynamic complexity of our food system, it offers a limited understanding of livestock’s GHG impacts. It is argued that LCA’s conclusions need rather to be considered within a broader conceptual framework that incorporates three key additional perspectives. The first is an understanding of the indirect second order effects of livestock production on land use change and associated CO2 emissions. The second compares the opportunity cost of using land and resources to rear animals with their use for other food or non-food purposes. The third perspective is need—the paper considers how far people need livestock products at all. These perspectives are used as lenses through which to explore both the impacts of livestock production and the mitigation approaches that are being proposed. The discussion is then broadened to consider whether it is possible to substantially reduce livestock emissions through technological measures alone, or whether reductions in livestock consumption will additionally be required. The paper argues for policy strategies that explicitly combine GHG mitigation with measures to improve food security and concludes with suggestions for further research.
Please note that there's a small error in the PDF. It says that 60% of Europe's soymeal is used to feed pigs and poultry but the figure should be 90%.
Frost Bitten: an exploration of refrigeration dependence in the UK food chain and its implications for climate policy
Paper Presented to the 11th European Round Table on Sustainable Consumption and Production, Basel, Switzerland, June 2007.
Garnett T and Jackson T (2007)
Animal feed, livestock and greenhouse gas emissions: What are the issues?
Presented at the Society of Animal Feed Technologists in January 2007
Tara Garnett
January 2007
Commissioned work
How Low Can We Go? An assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from the UK food system and the scope for reduction by 2050
The Food Climate Research Network and WWF-UK have published a new report that quantifies the UK’s food carbon footprint - taking into account emissions from land use change - and explores a range of scenarios for achieving a 70% cut in food related greenhouse gas emissions. Previous estimates by the FCRN and others have found that the food chain accounts for around 20% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions. However, this newly published report finds that, once food related land use change impacts are included in the calculation, the contribution from food rises to 30% of the UK total.
The new report – How Low Can We Go? An assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from the UK food system and the scope for reduction by 2050 – assesses various scenarios for achieving a radical 70% cut in emissions from food. Both technological and behavioural initiatives are examined, including decarbonisation of the energy used in the food chain, improved efficiencies, and changes in the consumption of meat and dairy products. For a summary of the report see here.
The report concludes that no one solution can reduce emissions by 70%. Both technological improvements and changes in our eating habits – a reduction in the consumption of meat and dairy products - will be needed. FCRN and WWF-UK are urging Government and industry decision makers to recognise that a focus on technology is not enough – food consumption patterns need to change too.
See the coverage on the WWF website and the press release.
Briefing papers
Soil carbon sequestration: opportunities and limitations
This paper summarises the presentations and discussions that took place at a workshop organised by the Food Climate Research Network on 21 January 2010. Participants explored the possibilities and limitations afforded by soil carbon sequestration measures, and the discussion spanned a range of issues including crop productivity and land use, the relationship between the carbon and nitrogen cycles, biodiversity and water aspects and research needs. The workshop was supported by Defra and the Committee on Climate Change.
Intensive versus extensive livestock systems and greenhouse gas emissions
The purpose of this briefing paper is to explore the different ways in which one might view the contributions that livestock in intensive and extensive systems make to greenhouse gas emissions. Why do people draw different conclusions about intensive versus extensive systems? How far do these conclusions reflect differing approaches to quantifying emissions, to considering land use, and to accepting future demand for animal source foods?
By Tara Garnett, FCRN, January 2010.
For a longer discussion of livestock issues see the 2007 livestock working paper or the Environmental Science and Policy paper here.
Livestock, feed and food security
This briefing paper explores some of the arguments surrounding the relationship between what we feed and how we rear farm animals, and the availability and accessibility of food for human consumption. Does livestock production foster or hinder food security? In what ways are the contributions of intensive and extensive systems to food security different?
By Tara Garnett, FCRN, January 2010.
For a longer discussion of livestock issues see the 2007 livestock working paper or the Environmental Science and Policy paper here.