TWN Info Service on Sustainable Agriculture
24 November 2023
Third World Network

Dear Friends and Colleagues

Industrial Food Systems Need to be Weaned Off Fossil Fuels

In 2015, signatories to the Paris Agreement agreed to pursue efforts to limit global average temperature increases to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Average temperatures are already up by at least 1.1°C. All climate impacts are expected to intensify if the 1.5°C threshold is breached, with dramatic effects on human health and well-being. Yet current food and energy policies put us on track for around 2.7°C by the end of the century.

Fossil fuel use is by far the biggest driver of climate change. A new report shows that food production, transport and storage drive at least 15% of all fossil fuel emissions every year. Industrial food systems are highly dependent on fossil fuels across the four stages of the value chain: input and agricultural production 20%; processing and packaging 42%; and the retail consumption and waste stage 38%. We cannot transform food systems without addressing fossil fuel consumption, and we will not be able to phase out fossil fuel use and stop catastrophic climate change without changing food systems.

The report identifies several high-impact, no-regret opportunities for greater collaboration on the food-energy nexus. These changes would not only substantially reduce fossil fuel dependency but also realize a raft of benefits for people’s health, livelihoods, and the environment.

We reproduce below the Key Messages from the report. A companion Discussion Paper “Toward Fossil Fuel–free Food: Why Collaboration between Food and Energy Systems Players Is Key” is available here: https://futureoffood.org/insights/toward-fossil-fuel-free-food/

With best wishes,
Third World Network

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POWER SHIFT: WHY WE NEED TO WEAN INDUSTRIAL FOOD SYSTEMS OFF FOSSIL FUELS

Global Alliance for the Future of Food
https://futureoffood.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/ga_food-energy-nexus_report.pdf
2 November 2023

KEY MESSAGES

1. Fossil fuel use is by far the biggest driver of climate change. We need to radically reduce it now and phase it out almost completely by 2050 in order to reach net-zero emissions. Our new calculations suggest that food systems currently account for at least 15 percent of global fossil fuels use annually, driving as many emissions as all EU countries and Russia combined.
2. Food and energy systems are fundamentally intertwined — with interactions across the food value chain, and broad social, economic, and environmental implications. Therefore, collaboration between actors within these two systems is crucial.
3. Food systems contribute to and are significantly affected by climate change. Food systems account for more than one-third of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Food systems transformation is thus a crucial part of the solution to keeping global warming below 1.5°C (2.7°F).
4. Industrial food systems are highly energy intensive and dependent on fossil fuels across the four stages of the value chain: the majority of fossil fuel consumption is in the processing and packaging stage (42 percent), and in retail consumption and waste (38 percent). The stages of input and agriculture production together account for 20 percent of energy use in food systems, with fossil fuel use to produce fertilizers expected to increase substantially through 2050.
5. The dependence of food systems on fossil fuels requires a collaborative and deliberate approach by both the energy and food sectors. We cannot transform food systems without addressing fossil fuel consumption, and we will not be able to phase out fossil fuel use and stop catastrophic climate change without changing food systems.
6. Energy intensity in food systems is growing due to increased mechanization; growing use of fertilizers and other fossil fuel–based inputs; globalized supply chains; growing demand for meat, dairy, and ultra-processed foods; and, to some extent, new food trends such as alternative proteins.
7. The fossil fuel industry is investing heavily in petrochemicals to lock in the dependence of food systems, with investments of over USD 164 billion planned between 2016–2023 in the United States alone. Food-related plastics and fertilizers together represent approximately 40 percent of petrochemical products.
8. The agri-food and energy sectors are dominated by a small number of large, vertically integrated, multinational firms with a vested interest in maintaining the current fossil fuel and chemical-dependent industrial food system. Recognizing and addressing the concentration of corporate power and taking measures to improve participation and agency of smallholder farmers and small-scale fishers, small and medium enterprises, local communities, and other actors will be key to real food systems transformation.
9. Food systems don’t just consume energy, they also produce it in the form of biofuels, biomaterials, and on-farm energy, which is often incentivized via public subsidies. This energy production can have negative side effects, including displacing food production or local communities, or pushing up food prices.
10. With business-as-usual food production and processing driving the demand for energy-intensive and ultra-processed foods, immediate action to decouple food production from fossil fuel use is required. We have identified the following high-impact, no-regret opportunities for greater collaboration on the food-energy nexus:

• Phase out fossil fuel–based agrochemicals and transition to regenerative and agroecological approaches;
• Review fiscal policies to counter the negative externalities of bioenergy production;
• Shift to renewables-based cooling, heating, and drying technologies;
• Shift to renewable energy for food processing and transport;
• Ensure healthy, sustainable, and just food environments that support plant-rich diets and minimally processed foods; and
• Track and address corporate consolidation in the agrochemical and food industries while actively supporting a just transition through more inclusive and equitable governance and decision-making.

These changes would not only substantially reduce fossil fuel dependency but also realize a raft of benefits for people’s health, livelihoods, and the environment.