Investing in Sustainable Food Cold Chains Crucial Amid Food and Climate Crises

Published: 2022-11-12
Author: UNEP | Contact: un.org
Peer-Reviewed Publication: Yes
Library of Related Papers: Disability and Climate Change Publications

Synopsis: At a time when the international community must act to address the climate and food crises, sustainable food cold chains can make a massive difference. As food insecurity and global warming rise, governments, international development partners, and industry should invest in sustainable food cold chains to decrease hunger, provide livelihoods to communities, and adapt to climate change. Overall, the cold food chain is responsible for around 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions - when emissions from cold chain technologies and food loss caused by lack of refrigeration are included.

Definition

Food Cold Chain: A cold chain is a low temperature-controlled supply chain network. An unbroken cold chain is an uninterrupted series of refrigerated production, storage and distribution activities, along with associated equipment and logistics, which maintain quality via a desired low-temperature range. It is used to preserve and to extend and ensure the shelf life of products, such as fresh agricultural produce, seafood, frozen food, photographic film, chemicals, and pharmaceutical products.

Main Digest

More than 3 billion people can't afford a healthy diet; Lack of effective refrigeration directly results in the loss of 526 million tonnes of food production - 12% of the global total; Developing countries could save 144 million tons of food annually.

Related Publications:

As food insecurity and global warming rise, governments, international development partners, and industry should invest in sustainable food cold chains to decrease hunger, provide livelihoods to communities, and adapt to climate change, the UN said today.

Launched at the 27th Climate Change Conference (COP 27), the Sustainable Food Cold Chains report from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) finds that food cold chains are critical to meeting the challenge of feeding an additional two billion people by 2050 and harnessing rural communities' resilience while avoiding increased greenhouse gas emissions.

The report (http://bit.ly/3A3dP8z) was developed in the framework of the UNEP-led Cool Coalition in partnership with FAO, the Ozone Secretariat, UNEP OzonAction Programme, and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition.

"At a time when the international community must act to address the climate and food crises, sustainable food cold chains can make a massive difference," said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. "They allow us to reduce food loss, improve food security, slow greenhouse gas emissions, create jobs, reduce poverty and build resilience - all in one fell swoop."

Food Insecurity on the Rise

The number of people affected by hunger worldwide rose to 828 million in 2021, a year-on-year rise of 46 million.

Almost 3.1 billion people could not afford a healthy diet in 2020, up 112 million from 2019, as the economic impacts of the Covid pandemic drove up inflation. This year, meanwhile, the conflict in Ukraine has raised the prices of basic grains threatening food security.

All of this comes while an estimated 14% of all food produced for human consumption is lost before it reaches the consumer. The lack of an effective cold chain to maintain food quality, nutritional value, and safety is a major contributor (12% of total loss).

According to the report, developing countries could save 144 million tonnes of food annually if they reached the same level of food cold chain infrastructure as developed countries.

As post-harvest food loss reduces the income of 470 million small-scale farmers by 15%, mainly in developing countries investing in sustainable food cold chains would help lift these farm families out of poverty.

Climate Impact

The food cold chain has serious implications for climate change and the environment. Emissions from food loss and waste due to lack of refrigeration totaled an estimated one gigatonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent in 2017 - about 2% of total global greenhouse gas emissions.

In particular, it contributes to methane emissions, a potent but short-lived climate pollutant. Taking action now would contribute to reducing atmospheric concentrations of methane this decade.

Overall, the cold food chain is responsible for around 4% of total global greenhouse gas emissions - when emissions from cold chain technologies and food loss caused by lack of refrigeration are included.

Lost food also damages the natural world by driving the unnecessary conversion of land for agricultural purposes and using resources such as water, fossil fuels, and energy.

Reducing food loss and waste could positively impact climate change, but only if the new cooling-related infrastructure is designed to use gases with low global warming potential, be energy efficient and run on renewable energy.

The adoption of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol and the Rome Declaration on "the contribution of the Montreal Protocol to sustainable cold chain development for food waste reduction" provides a unique opportunity to accelerate the deployment of sustainable food cold chains.

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The UN report Sustainable Food Cold Chains: Opportunities, Challenges, and the Way Forward emphasizes the need for robust, sustainable cold chains to maintain the quality, nutritional value, and safety of food and to reduce losses, offering case studies and solutions to the challenge - Image Credit: UNEP - FAO.

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Progress Being Made

Projects worldwide show that sustainable food cold chains are making a difference. In India, a food cold chain pilot project reduced losses of kiwi fruit by 76% while reducing emissions through the expansion of the use of refrigerated transport.

In Nigeria, a project to install 54 operational ColdHubs prevented the spoilage of 42,024 tonnes of food and increased the household income of 5,240 small-scale farmers, retailers, and wholesalers by 50%.

But these projects, among many other illustrative case studies in the new report, are still the exception rather than the norm.

Recommendations for Decision Makers

To expand sustainable food cold chains globally, the report makes a series of recommendations for governments and stakeholders, including:

Take a holistic systems approach to food cold chain provision, recognizing that providing cooling technologies alone is not enough.
Quantify and benchmark the energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in existing food cold chains and identify possible reductions.
Collaborate and undertake food cold chain needs assessments and develop cost and sequenced National Cooling Action Plans, backed with specific actions and financing.
Implement and enforce ambitious minimum efficiency standards, and monitoring and enforcement to prevent illegal imports of inefficient food cold chain equipment and refrigerants.
Run large-scale system demonstrations to show the positive impacts of sustainable cold chains and how interventions can create sustainable and resilient solutions for scaling.
Institute multidisciplinary centers for food cold chain development at the national or regional level.

Attribution/Source(s):

This peer reviewed article relating to our disability and climate change section was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World due to its likely interest to our disability community readers. Though the content may have been edited for style, clarity, or length, the article "Investing in Sustainable Food Cold Chains Crucial Amid Food and Climate Crises" was originally written by UNEP. Should you require further information or clarification, they can be contacted at un.org Disabled World makes no warranties or representations in connection therewith.

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