Global warming and the dumb problem of food waste

[Music]

well let’s start let’s start at the

beginning so so what is drawdown can you

just break that down for us so so

drawdown

is a point in time it’s that time

when we uh uh reduce atmospheric

concentrations

on a year-to-year basis when we

essentially when we pull out more

greenhouse gases

that we’re putting in to earth’s

atmosphere

and the proposition is really simple

when we can

reduce those concentrations of heat

trapping gases

we can essentially affect global cooling

essentially stopping global warming and

beginning

a long process of reversing it and so

that’s what drawdown is

that point in time when we can start to

really

uh reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases

well that’s interesting because we often

talk about

mitigating climate change

and you guys at drawdown are taking

quite a strong position here you’re

saying

we can reverse global warming

absolutely i mean mitigation just means

to lessen

it means to reduce the impact of and

that’s important we need to

mitigate uh the impact of climate change

and

probably more important we need to

mitigate or reduce

to less than reduce the emissions that

are going into the atmosphere to start

with

um but mitigation is only part of it and

it’s an important

step being stoned to a goal that we

actually want

what we really want to do is stop global

warming and begin to reverse it

that’s what that’s the aim that’s sort

of what i like to think of as like

the marker on the horizon

pointing us to the future that we

actually want right

there’s many pathways to get there right

and mitigation is one

one strategy it’s getting us partially

there

but if we don’t envision where we

actually want to be we’re not going to

get there

so we need to say what is it that we

want we want to stop

global warming we want to begin the

process of reversing it

we need to find and take the first steps

on that pathway

to reach that horizon point and move as

fast as we can as urgently

as safely and as equitably as we can to

get there

um but if we don’t name that as a

starting point we’re never ever going to

reach there so that that’s really what

we want to set out

with with drawdown with project drawdown

is to name

the goal name where we actually want to

be and not confuse things

not name half measures like mitigation

to a to to ensure a two degree warming

target

celsius warming target or a 1.5 degree

celsius warping target these are very

important targets

very important but again these are stop

gap measures

we want to go beyond that we want to say

okay yes let’s go there

but let’s go further yeah where do we

how do we go further than that and

create a

regenerative society and regenerative

economy

that benefits all people while at the

same time

solving the climate emergency that we’re

all facing today well and we often use

uh climate change and global warming

interchangeably

but you make a very specific distinction

between the two

can you tell us about that absolutely

and

and it’s okay first of all to use them

interchangeably because we have done

that

so often uh uh as we as we discuss and

in this discourse we’ve certainly been

using them interchangeably and to a

certain extent we can’t

um but i think that there is an

important distinction when we really

have to think about the solutions

to the problem at hand right um

climate change is essentially a symptom

a symptom of a deeper problem it’s the

earth it’s telling us what’s going wrong

uh it’s the in what’s going wrong is

actually

global warming that’s what’s causing

climate change

uh and it’s it’s affecting uh the

atmosphere it’s affecting our

uh our climate um and so we need to

address

not just the symptoms the climate change

itself but we need to

address the actual cause of the sickness

the cause

of the disease and that is emissions

themselves

emissions caused by human activity that

are entering the atmosphere

trapping heat and essentially uh it’s

like putting we’re basically putting

lots of blankets over the planet

it is experiencing a fever right it’s

getting hotter and hotter and hotter

and this is causing all of these uh

other impacts to our terrestrial systems

to our ocean systems to our biodiversity

and to human social and economic systems

and it’s and it says these are the

symptoms of that problem so

how do we actually address the problem

itself

how do we how do we address the cause of

these symptoms

and that is how do we turn off the

emissions

that are for the for as a starting point

causing the global warming

and how do we enhance those sinks those

natural uh natural carbon sinks in our

in our land

and our ocean systems that pull carbon

dioxide out of the atmosphere

and that’s a way for us to help uh

solve and help cure the illness that we

already are experiencing so how do we

turn off the emissions

turn up the uh the sinks and and really

address

the root cause of the illness itself

but we have to do that in a equitable

and safe and inclusive way with justice

at its core

because these are technologies and

practice that we profile draw down that

have a direct

effect on emissions but there’s deeper

embedded systems and structures in place

that also have to be addressed to shift

the system

from exploitation and extraction which

are in no small measure

causing and rooted in creating these

emissions uh to a restorative and

regenerative system

as i said which can address the

underlying structures themselves

and that has to be done with with with

justice and

uh inequity and inclusion at its heart

and that’s how we have how we need to be

implementing these solutions and solving

the problem itself

well and your research has led you to

100

solutions or at least priority areas

the shocking thing for me personally was

to find

food waste and food laws right at the

top of that list

as a potential solution to to impacting

emissions

you want to expand on that yes of course

so

so what we did over the course of the

last six years

uh is assemble a team of researchers

from all over the world

and we’ve mapped measured and described

real

existing technologies and practices

that when taken together as a system of

solutions

can achieve this goal of drawdown

can can help us achieve our global goals

the sustainable development goals

can help us go on this pathway towards

that future that we want

and so we’ve mapped a lot of these

solutions some of these are existing

some of the hundred that we profiled in

our first book uh

drawdown in 2017 some of them are coming

attractions these are

new emerging technologies that can come

on board and when they come on board

into the system they can

help accelerate our progress um but most

of them

uh at the time 80 solutions uh

that we published a book um uh are are

existing technologies that can uh

achieve drawdown we’ve recently in in

2020 produced the drawdown

review which is an update of all of our

research from the book in 2017

and so some of the solutions have

shifted they’ve changed in terms of

their rankings

and we have 76 solutions now in the

drawdown review

and these are really really global

solutions that are applicable in a

variety of spaces and one of the ones

that

really reach the top again so in in 2017

reducing food waste was our number three

solution

in the latest review uh it’s still

in the the top uh top three solutions we

produced two new scenarios one scenario

scenario one

is aligned with a two degree warming

target two degree warming celsius target

and the other scenario is aligned with a

1.5 degree

celsius warming target in each of these

two scenarios

uh food waste really tops the list and

in the two-degree warming target it’s a

it’s the

it’s the top the first the number one um

and then the 1.5 is

it’s again the third third solution so

but the point is these are really really

important it’s a really important uh

solution um and

uh and it’s it’s it’s kind of

if we think about uh food loss

and waste um it becomes pretty obvious

right

uh currently we we we lose or waste

about 30

or 30 to 40 percent of all food that’s

produced for human consumption

it’s not even consumed and that that

loss

in waste accounts for about eight

percent of our global greenhouse gases

and it’s kind of i have to be honest

daddy it’s one of the dumbest things

we ever can do as a species i mean

humanity is brilliant let’s get

we are a brilliant species but we do

some incredibly dumb things at times

like creating a system that’s

exploitative and extracted to start with

so the whole system can be done at times

but there’s some brilliant things that

have come out of that

don’t get us wrong um but one of the

really dumb things we could do is

um produce so much food and waste 30 to

40 percent of it

so so i think how we we need to really

when we see that

as sort of uh an opportunity to change

and to find what are the solutions to

those food loss and waste

and try to prevent that eight percent

global greenhouse gases

it becomes really clear that it’s it’s

one of the most important uh in

solutions

yeah did you say eight percent is that

about eight percent

global greenhouse gases yeah yeah okay

that is not a small amount

yeah yeah well

sorry yeah that that’s interesting

because

um you know the dominant narrative here

has been

has been that if we you know if when we

change and

well we should uh from fossil fuels to

to to to solar energy for example um

that’s the big change that the world

needs to make and you’re suggesting

something

something else here yes in addition to

that and maybe even more importantly

than that

we need to be looking at our food system

as as the big shift that the world needs

to make

in in how we live how we produce

and and and what impact will have on

emissions

yeah i i i would caution to say level of

importance

because we need them all and in fact how

we address electricity generation

is one of the most important solutions

and we need to achieve a 100

clean renewable grid as as as

urgently and as safely as possible um

and because this is the electricity

generation counts about 25

of global greenhouse gases as a whole

right but where are the other 75

coming from um and they come 24

of global greenhouse gas gases comes

from uh uh the food system itself

um about the but what we’re consuming

how we’re producing that food and what

we’re

wasting um uh and and and that 24

meat can be addressed and of course

there are other sectors as well

buildings and transportation and our

industrial processes that accounts for

the other 50

of global greenhouse gases so we need

them all it’s not a level of

what’s more or less important there are

no silver bullets

there’s no subset of these solutions

that are going to get us there

um there’s not the top 20 or top 30 or

top 40

we need all of the solutions to address

all of these areas of human

activity um but what is surprising and i

think what what you’re what you’re

addressing here

tati is that um we don’t typically think

about the food system

in uh in in the discussion around

sustainability

and the discussion around addressing uh

climate action though things have

started to change a lot in the last five

years that makes us

natural climate solutions and our food

systems are becoming more and more

prevalent in the discourse but it’s

still

not something that’s really understood

or known i mean it’s surprising to

people

all over the place and um but if you

stop and think about it for just

a minute it becomes pretty clear why

it’s such an important contributor to

greenhouse gases

uh because think about the food chain

itself

yes if we think about sorry

i was saying yes oh yes if we think

about if anything like the food chain

itself which is

how food gets to our mouths right

from production to harvesting and

processing

packaging distribution markets

consumption

and then the end of life of food we

think about that entire chain

but every crust of bread every drop of

oil that we’re producing to consume

goes through all of that and

there are there’s energy there’s labor

there’s money of course and there’s

emissions

that go along with each of those points

along the food chain

so um whether we’re producing food

and where it sadly and one of the number

one drivers of deforestation

uh and land conversion is agriculture so

producing

food for consumption contributes

emissions and then how we’re producing

it using

increasingly using industrial modern

agriculture which promotes

monocropping do you said it’s that

synthetic fertilizers and pesticides um

and and uh and tillage which uh

ultimately

turn land into a net emitter and

degrades the emitter of

of greenhouse gases and degrades the

land right

uh their emissions that happen there but

if you think that production and go

outward to processing

making that food into various other uh

food sets that we’re familiar with those

commodities into other foods that we’re

familiar with

to packaging think about all the tin the

plastic

the glass being made in factories

and they’re churning out emissions to

produce this

material that we then put food into

and then we take that food and we put it

on trucks

trains ships and

sadly with too many luxury items

on planes to travel all over the world

and even in our own in our own

communities in

our own our own regions traveling all

over the place all of that

is using as it producing emissions

combusting fossil fuels to move that

stuff around the world

yeah and i think that’s a pretty good

way to to close this discussion and

thank you so much for

the work that you do it’s it’s much

needed it it certainly clarifies

the problem but it offers the solutions

as well but my last question to you

is on a scale of one to let’s say a

hundred

uh how optimistic are you that we can

reach draw down

daddy that’s a challenging question one

to a hundred goodness well first of all

is a hundred the most optimistic 100

most optimistic i am

i would say let me think about this um

i would say i’m a solid i’m a solid 85

yeah i’m a solid 85. and and and it

depends on the optimist to achieve what

is it the two degree warming celsius

warming target 1.5

degrees celsius swimming target is it

our sustainable development goals

is it that marker on the horizon

um these are different things and

they’re different stepping stones

and i think um i’m 85 because i believe

deeply

in the brilliance of humanity i believe

in the

beautiful beauty of humanity and no

small measure it was my experience

for two months backpacking in

sub-saharan africa

that kindled this sense of

how real people

people can be so beautiful and real and

really connected to

nature and the earth and the planet and

that kindle us hope and that i could

sign everyday people

everybody i encountered that that these

kind

of solving this is possible because

because humanity is brilliant and you

see that in local communities you see

that in indigenous peoples communities

you see that

um in in the sub-saharan context in

those places that i i cherish

and and that killed me handled in me the

hope

that we can actually achieve and that’s

why if i didn’t have that i wouldn’t be

spending

the last 12 years doing everything in my

power and even my ability

to uh get us on this pathway to a

regenerative system

uh in social media small measure and i’m

so happy to be

able to speak to folks here today on

from the continent

um and uh uh i thank you for the

opportunity

i’m i’m i’m i’m more optimistic now than

ever

uh in the past and and i appreciate this

uh this chance to

chat with you all and thank you for the

world chad thank you very much