Publications

Food policies and climate: a literature review

25 February 2019 - Climate Report - By : Claudine FOUCHEROT / Valentin BELLASSEN / Lucile ROGISSART

Food consumption is responsible for around 28% of total greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions (see I4CE study on the issue)

Which dietary practices have the largest potential for reducing food-related GHG emissions? Is it possible to reduce food-related emissions while also targeting public health and environmental goals such as the preservation of soils or water quality? Which public policies could be implemented to push consumers towards less GHG intensive diets?

In the present study, I4CE summarizes the answers academic literature can bring to these questions.

It appears that reducing the intake of animal products has a major mitigation potential, as these products are responsible for almost two thirds of total food-related emissions. Besides, dividing by two the current levels of food waste could enable to reduce food-related emissions by 5%. The origin or the seasonality of products have a limited impact comparatively to total food GHG emissions.

 

World food GHG emissions

Food policies and climate: a literature review Download
I4CE Contacts
Lucile ROGISSART
Lucile ROGISSART
Research Fellow – Financing the agricultural transition, Food systems Email
To learn more
  • 09/05/2025 Foreword of the week
    2030 and Beyond: Budgeting Europe’s Climate Transition

    The next long term EU budget will take us through the 2030 goal posts, by when GHG emissions should be down by 55%. It will also lay the groundwork for investing in a climate-neutral future for the continent towards the yet-to-be agreed objectives for 2040. So, when the European Commission presented its proposal for a €2 trillion multiannual financial framework (MFF) just before the summer break, there was good reason to carefully study the details from the perspective of closing the EU’s climate investment deficit.  

  • 09/03/2025
    State of EU progress to climate neutrality – ECNO 2025 Flagship report

    Europe is making progress on the clean transition, but the pace is too slow across several parametres. ECNO’s analysis is structured around 13 building blocks of the transition, tracking changes in the six-year trend for nearly 150 indicators and also the expected impact of policies – a new addition to this year’s report. In the 2025 edition, we also analysed the changes through the lens of broader EU objectives, namely competitiveness, resilience, and citizens’ well-being. 

  • 07/24/2025 Blog post
    Can the next EU budget point the way to an investment plan for climate transition?

    In July, Commission President von der Leyen announced a €2 trillion EU budget fit “for a new era,” set to launch for a seven-year period in 2028. As EU-watchers in Brussels and beyond scrambled to digest the reams of legislative proposals that followed this headline-grabbing announcement, much in the detail should give pause – especially from the perspective of closing the EU’s climate investment deficit.

See all publications
Press contact Amélie FRITZ Head of Communication and press relations Email
Subscribe to our mailing list :
I register !
Subscribe to our newsletter
Once a week, receive all the information on climate economics
I register !
Fermer