Global food production emissions 'would put Paris agreement out of reach'

Study calls for more focus on farming and food waste, behind a third of greenhouse gas production

Our diets and agricultural production around the world are so carbon-intensive that emissions from the global food system alone would be enough to put the Paris climate goals out of reach, even if all the other major sources of emissions were closed down, research has shown.

Farming and food account for about a third of global greenhouse gas production at present. The world's food systems produced about 16bn tonnes a year of CO2 from 2012 to 2017.