EU Diet Linked to Deforestation Footprint in the Tropics - Study

Researchers calculate that 15% of carbon emissions associated with the typical European diet can be traced back to deforestation in tropical and subtropical countries, reports the FoodNavigator on April12.  New studies from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden investigate the extent to which deforestation in the tropics is linked to food production, and where that food is consumed. 

The research was conducted in collaboration with scientists from the Stockholm Environment Institute in Sweden; Senckkenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre in Germany, and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.  By leveraging satellite technology, global land use statistics and international trade pattern data, the study concludes that one-sixth of carbon  emissions of the typical EU diet is due to deforestation in the tropics.  

According to the researchers, the figures for the EU, as a major food importer, are of particular interest.  “Europe is one of the regions that imports most of the tropical deforestation (causing commodities) that are linked with national trade,” Chalmer’s Martin Persson who co-authored the study, told FoodNavigator.  The main commodities driving deforestation in the tropics are beef and soy production in South America, and palm oil in South East Asia- primarily in Indonesia and Malaysia.