Política para reduzir as emissões de metano e alimentar mais pessoas
After measuring methane emission mitigation by food banks, new reports detail how Ecuador and Mexico can leverage them to reduce emissions and food insecurity
April 3, 2024 — The Harvard Law SchoolClínica de Legislação e Política Alimentar (FLPC) e A Rede Global de FoodBanking(GFN), com o apoio da Centro Global de Metano (GMH), are presenting two new papers on how México e Equador can reduce methane emissions and improve food security with stronger legislation to support food recovery.
A third of all food produced globally is lost or wasted, causing corrosive effects on global hunger and climate change. While so much food is squandered, 733 million people are chronically undernourished and a third of the world can’t afford a healthy diet. That wasted food rots in landfills, producing potent methane gas, and is estimated to account for 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The two papers focus on Mexico and Ecuador, respectively, after food banks in each country participated in the first phase of GFN’s Food Recovery to Avoid Methane Emissions (FRAME) methodology. Demonstrating the effectiveness of food banks at simultaneously mitigating methane emissions and addressing food insecurity, the reports serve as a guide for how policymakers in Mexico and Ecuador can maximize the impact of food banks and other food recovery organizations.
“Our member food banks in Mexico and Ecuador are proven examples of how food recovery and redistribution can reduce hunger and emissions at the same time and their efforts can be multiplied with stronger national legislation,” said Lisa Moon, president and CEO of The Global FoodBanking Network. “These reports show there is no cookie cutter legislation to reduce food loss and waste and increase food recovery. The included recommendations are tailored to lawmakers in Mexico and Ecuador, respectively, and enable them to take bold action in favor of people and the planet.”
“These reports highlight a crucial intersection: reducing food waste not only combats climate change by mitigating potent methane emissions, but also directly addresses food insecurity,” said Emily Broad Leib, director of the Food Law and Policy Clinic at Harvard Law School. “By providing concrete, country-specific policy recommendations for Mexico and Ecuador, we’re demonstrating how targeted legal frameworks can empower food recovery organizations to maximize their impact. The Food Law and Policy Clinic is committed to supporting these efforts, ensuring that effective policies translate into real-world solutions that benefit both people and the planet.”
Key recommendations in Mexico include:
Carbon tax: ensure carbon tax revenues are directed towards environmental projects, with a share dedicated specifically to food waste deterrence projects, including food banks
Carbon markets: include food banks in deliberation on carbon markets and provide grants or other financial support to enable food banks to enter carbon markets
Food waste deterrence: prohibit dumping of organic waste in landfills and strengthen compliance, enforcement and taxing of those who dump organic waste to generate revenue for reduction efforts
Key recommendations in Ecuador include:
Zero Carbon Program (Programa Ecuador Carbono Cero, PECC): ensure food banks can participate in the program, financially support their inclusion in the efforts, and collect robust food waste data on baselines levels and reduction efforts
Tax incentives: create tax benefits for food producers to increase food donations and build infrastructure to support food recovery and redistribution
Food recovery from agricultural producers: provide grants or incentives to enable agricultural producers to donate unsellable produce and invest in cold chain infrastructure to extend the life of donated produce
O Atlas Global de Políticas de Doação de Alimentos identifies existing laws and policies that support or hinder food waste reduction and food recovery and offers policy recommendations for strengthening frameworks and adopting new measures to fill existing gaps. The analyses featured in country-specific reports and topical policy issue briefs are also encapsulated in aninterativo Atlas ferramenta que permite aos usuários comparar políticas entre os países participantes do projeto.
Atlas pesquisa de projetoestá disponível para 25 países em cinco continentes, além da União Europeia.Um mapa interativo, guias legais, recomendações de políticas e resumos executivos para cada país estão disponíveis ematlas.foodbanking.org.
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SOBRE A LEI ALIMENTAR E CLÍNICA DE POLÍTICAS DE HARVARD
Since 2010, the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC) has served partner organizations and communities in the U.S. and around the world by providing guidance on cutting-edge food system issues, while engaging law students in the practice of food law and policy. FLPC is committed to advancing a cross-sector, multi-disciplinary and inclusive approach to its work, building partnerships with academic institutions, government agencies, non-profit organizations, private sector actors, and civil society with expertise in public health, the environment, and the economy. FLPC’s work focuses on increasing access to nutritious foods, addressing the climate-related impacts of food and agricultural systems, reducing waste of healthy, wholesome food, and promoting food system justice. For more information, visit chlpi.org/food-law-and-policy.
SOBRE A REDE GLOBAL FOODBANKING O banco de alimentos oferece uma solução tanto para a fome crônica quanto para a crise climática. A GFN trabalha com parceiros em mais de 50 países para recuperar e redirecionar alimentos para aqueles que precisam. Em 2023, nossa Rede forneceu alimentos para mais de 40 milhões de pessoas, reduzindo o desperdício de alimentos e criando comunidades saudáveis e resilientes. Ajudamos o sistema alimentar a funcionar como deveria: nutrindo as pessoas e o planeta juntos. Saiba mais em foodbanking.org
SOBRE O GLOBAL METHANE HUB
O Global Methane Hub é uma aliança filantrópica pioneira para apoiar a redução de emissões de metano em todo o mundo. Um super poluente, o metano é responsável por mais de 45 por cento do aquecimento global recente. Para reduzir a poluição por metano e ter a chance de salvar nosso clima durante nossa vida, o Global Methane Hub organiza e reúne governos, líderes da indústria, cientistas e organizações sem fins lucrativos em todo o mundo para minimizar a poluição por metano por meio de tecnologia e políticas e regulamentações públicas de senso comum. Desde 2021, o Global Methane Hub catalisou mais de $10 bilhões em investimentos em projetos de redução de metano ao reunir financiadores focados em lidar com as mudanças climáticas, levantou $500 milhões em fundos reunidos de mais de 20 das maiores filantropias climáticas para acelerar a mitigação do metano em todo o mundo e estrategicamente concedeu novamente $200 milhões a mais de 100 beneficiários que conduzem trabalhos de redução de metano em 152 países. Para saber mais sobre o Global Methane Hub, visite globalmethanehub.org.
