Search Climate Insights Directory
142 results
Response to 2040 EU climate target proposal, methane must be addressed
The document argues that the EU's 2040 climate target must include a specific methane reduction target of at least 44% to prevent crossing irreversible tipping points and limit warming to 1.5 ºC. The authors express concern over the removal of a proposed 30% reduction target for non-CO2 emissions in agriculture and call for mandatory mitigation measures across the agriculture, waste, and energy sectors, including the regulation of imported fossil fuels.
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Document type: Statement
Breaking food waste traditions: Aramark's initiative at Asilomar Conference Center
Aramark, a signatory of the Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment, piloted a consumer messaging strategy to reduce post-consumer plate waste at the Asilomar Conference Center. While the specific messaging pilot did not result in a measurable decrease in waste per meal, it prompted the facility to transition from a century-old family-style service model to more controlled portioning methods, such as pre-portioned salads and centralized stations for pastries and fruit.
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Document type: Case study
A LOOK BACK 2024
WWF's 2024 review highlights efforts to combat climate change and biodiversity loss through targeted programs. Key achievements include expanding the Food Waste Warriors program to 15 new cities, enrolling 1 million acres in the Ranch Systems and Viability Planning network, and contributing to a global tiger population increase to 5,574. The report also details human-wildlife conflict mitigation in the KAZA region, elephant tracking in India, and the establishment of the Tribal Buffalo Lifeways Collaboration in North America.
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Document type: Report
The Business Case for Getting Started with the Global Farm Loss Tool
The Global Farm Loss Tool (GFLT), developed by WWF and partners, enables growers to categorize on-farm food loss into marketable, edible/not marketable, and spoiled categories. This data helps growers improve operational efficiency and create new revenue streams, while allowing buyers to track scope 3 emissions and meet food loss commitments. Early applications include reducing apple production waste to 0.6% at Algoma Orchards and developing new 'snacker' products for smaller strawberries in the US supply chain.
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Document type: Briefing
Priority Climate Action Plan Guide: Organic Waste & Landfill Methane Strategies
The guide outlines how state, local, and tribal governments can utilize CPRG funding to reduce methane emissions by implementing upstream organic waste diversion and downstream landfill gas controls. It emphasizes the use of 20-year global warming potential (GWP) for GHG inventories to highlight the urgency of methane action and details specific policy measures, such as organic waste bans and advanced monitoring technology, to achieve rapid emissions reductions and community benefits.
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Document type: Guide
Mitigating Methane from Food and Agriculture
The report identifies livestock production, rice cultivation, and land use as primary methane sources in agriculture, highlighting that the sector accounts for approximately 42 percent of anthropogenic methane emissions. It argues that mitigating these emissions provides significant health co-benefits, such as reducing tropospheric ozone and respiratory illnesses caused by biomass burning and manure management. Proposed solutions include transitioning to plant-rich diets, implementing alternate wetting and drying (AWD) in rice farming, and adopting regenerative agricultural practices. The document emphasizes the need for systemic policy changes, including the reform of agricultural subsidies and the implementation of mandatory emissions regulations, while noting that livestock remains a critical nutritional and economic resource in the Global South.
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Document type: Report
IKEA Becomes First Global Company to Halve Food Waste
IKEA reduced food waste by 54% across its in-store restaurants in 32 markets, saving 20 million meals and $37 million annually while avoiding 36,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year.
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Document type: Case study
The Rebirth: Tunisia’s potential development pathways to 2040
The report examines Tunisia's agricultural sector, highlighting low crop yields, high food dependence, and significant crop waste. It argues that state intervention has prioritised food security over agricultural development, hindering productivity. Furthermore, it details the severe threats posed by climate change, including rising temperatures, sea-level rise, and reduced agricultural output, which threaten the country's economy, infrastructure, and public health.
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Document type: Report
How circularity can contribute to emissions reductions in Canada
The report argues that transitioning from a "take, make, waste" economy to a circular one is essential for Canada to meet its climate targets, as energy transitions alone cannot address emissions from resource extraction and material use. It identifies significant emissions-reduction opportunities in the metals, construction, plastics, and food sectors, while noting that Canada is currently at a nascent stage of implementation compared to leaders like Japan and the European Union. The document emphasizes that 'upstream' measures—such as demand suppression, product life extension, and smarter design—offer greater climate benefits than downstream recycling. It highlights critical barriers in Canada, including opaque material flow data, regulatory hurdles for recycled aggregates, and a lack of comprehensive national circularity goals. The report recommends that Canada develop a formal roadmap, integrate circularity into its Nationally Determined Contributions, and utilize tools like carbon pricing and green public procurement to incentivize the shift.
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Document type: Report
A nossa casa comum
The document outlines the interconnected nature of the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, water scarcity, air pollution, and unsustainable food systems, arguing that these issues are rooted in excessive consumption and fossil-fuel-based economic models. It advocates for a radical shift toward circular economies, restorative agriculture, and social justice to protect the planet and its most vulnerable populations.
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Document type: Guide
Case study: Urban Deli’s digital tool use and sustainability vision
The report examines the intersection of digitalization and sustainability at Urban Deli, a Swedish food retailer. Despite a strong organizational sustainability vision, the study finds that digital tools are currently used primarily for operational efficiency and cost reduction rather than for sustainability decision-making. Key barriers include a lack of standardized environmental data, supplier reluctance to share detailed information, and internal challenges regarding the capability to interpret and act on sustainability data. The findings suggest that increased information alone is insufficient without organizational prioritization and a supportive regulatory framework.
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Document type: Case study
Advancing Equity and Climate Action in a New Food and Farm Bill
The Union of Concerned Scientists argues that the US food and farm system is dominated by industrial corporations that damage the environment and exploit workers. To address this, the brief recommends that Congress cosponsor the Agriculture Resilience Act (ARA) to increase USDA investments in agroecology, carbon capture, and climate-resilient research, and the Justice for Black Farmers Act (JBFA) to combat systemic discrimination and prevent further land loss among Black farmers.
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Document type: Policy brief
International Public Opinion on Climate Change
The report finds that low-cost, repeated behaviors like reducing food waste are significantly more common than high-cost, one-time installations like heat pumps or solar panels. While many who adopted these behaviors faced minimal difficulty, non-adopters cited lack of awareness and lack of interest for low-cost actions, and high cost and home ownership issues for high-cost technologies.
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Document type: Report
CUTTING METHANE
The report identifies methane as a critical target for slowing climate change due to its high warming potential and short atmospheric lifetime. It highlights significant discrepancies between 'bottom-up' government estimates and 'top-down' satellite measurements, particularly in the energy sector. The document details mitigation strategies such as leak detection and repair (LDAR) in oil and gas, alternative livestock feeds, and alternate wetting and drying in rice cultivation. It also emphasizes the role of biogas and food waste reduction as cross-cutting solutions for the agriculture and waste sectors.
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Document type: Report
How I Got My School District to Combat Climate Change by Changing What We Eat
A student shares a five-step framework for introducing plant-based meals into school cafeterias, detailing the process of contacting nutrition services, proposing changes, marketing new items, educating peers, and planning for long-term sustainability.
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Document type: Guide
The Rebirth: Tunisia’s potential development pathways to 2040
The annex outlines the technical specifications for forecasting Tunisia's development to 2040. It details data replacements from sources like UNICEF and the National Statistics Bureau, and specifies interventions across four scenarios: a common baseline, 'Going for Growth', 'Leapfrogging', and 'Sustainability & Equality'. These interventions target economic freedom, corruption, education quality, ICT infrastructure, renewable energy, and carbon taxation.
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Document type: Report
How will Sweden’s ambitious climate targets change how we eat and get around?
The document identifies significant implementation gaps in Sweden's path to a fossil-free welfare society by 2045, specifically within the food and transport sectors. In transport, it highlights a lack of tailored strategies for rural populations and a reliance on reactive policies to manage fuel price shocks. In the food sector, it notes a critical absence of clear consumption-based emission targets and a failure to address the need for significant dietary shifts, such as reducing animal protein intake.
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Document type: Policy brief
Getting Started
The document outlines the reciprocal relationship between food systems and climate change, noting that agriculture and food systems contribute 31% of global greenhouse gas emissions. It encourages journalists to move beyond 'problem' stories by highlighting systemic solutions, such as regenerative agriculture and the reduction of food waste, while emphasizing the importance of climate justice and the role of women in agriculture. The guide specifically highlights the impact of industrial agriculture, the vulnerability of global food systems exacerbated by conflict and pandemics, and the critical need to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius to maintain food security.
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Document type: Guide
The generation of food waste and food loss in the Estonian food supply chain
Estonia generates approximately 167,000 tonnes of food waste annually, with food loss (avoidable waste) accounting for 50% of this total. Households are the largest contributors, generating 81,000 tonnes of waste, while the food trade sector has seen a significant increase in unsold food waste. The report highlights that food loss is most prevalent in primary production (82%) and least prevalent in the food industry (10%), with a total estimated annual economic value of €164 million for food loss across the supply chain.
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Document type: Policy brief
Cooling for food, nutrition and agriculture
The document highlights that 13% of all food production is lost due to a lack of cold chains, amounting to 526 million tonnes annually. This deficiency disproportionately affects low-income countries, with Asia holding the highest share of food loss at 48%. The report argues that expanding sustainable cooling can reduce food losses by 55% and cold chain emissions by 55%, while improving incomes for smallholder farmers. It identifies 54 high-impact countries, noting that while China and India have the highest volumes of loss, several African nations exhibit the highest energy inefficiency in food production. Proposed solutions include National Cooling Action Plans, Cooling as a Service (CaaS) models, and Community Cooling Hubs.
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Document type: Report