London, UK has piloted a tool to quantify the climate impacts of its food system. The Carbon Circle Scan was developed by the organization Circle Economy in collaboration with the partnership ReLondon to identify ways to use the circular economy to reduce the carbon footprint of any sector in a community. The results suggest that London could cut its food-related, consumption-based emissions by 31% through three leverage points.

The report titled, ‘London’s food footprint: An analysis of material flows, consumption-based emissions, and levers for climate action,’ notes that globally, food systems produce 33% of global emissions, and 80% of the food produced is consumed in cities. London is the first to participate in a Circle Carbon Scan and analyze its food system.

The analysis uncovered three key leverage points to build a “circular and low-carbon” food system in London:

• Increase consumption of fruits and vegetables while significantly cutting the amount of meat eaten;
• Reduce avoidable food waste within city bounds through prevention, redistribution, and incorporation into animal feed; and
• Scale up anaerobic digestion to create biofuels, thereby diminishing dependence on fossil fuels. 

The tool shows that ambitious application of these interventions could reduce the consumption-based emissions of London’s food system by an estimated 31%.

The research also shows that 78% of the consumption-based emissions from London’s food system occur outside London. This means that its food system has a notable impact outside the city itself, influencing the food that is produced, the food loss and waste that is generated, and the greenhouse gases that are emitted. The report notes that Londoners’ food waste should be viewed as contributing to the consumption-based emissions of producing this food, which is then discarded. Wasted food generates additional emissions when it ends up in landfill.

The City of London will use the research to design policy interventions to cut consumption-based emissions from food. The research is designed to be replicable to other sectors and other cities, as well. The Circle Carbon Scan could be used by other municipal decision-makers to identify interventions to reduce the generation of greenhouse gas emissions.

Reducing food waste and loss is the subject of SDG target 12.3, which calls to “halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses” by 2030. [Publication: London’s Food Footprint: An analysis of material flows, consumption-based emissions, and levers for climate action] [Circle Economy article]