Pricing Carbon into the Food Supply Chain. Craig Sams Director, Soil Association Certification Foodmatters Live November

Transcription

1 Pricing Carbon into the Food Supply Chain Craig Sams Director, Soil Association Certification Foodmatters Live November

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3 In my book a pioneer is a man who turned the grass upside down, strung barbed wire over the dust that was left, poisoned the water and cut down the trees, killed the Indian who owned the land and called it progress Charles M. Russell the cowboy artist

4 We didn t know what we were doing because we didn t know what we were undoing Wendell Berry

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6 50% of total CO 2 increase is from farming From : Total CO2 from Farming: 160 Billion Tonnes Total CO2 from Fossil Fuels: 165 Billion Tonnes

7 Mississippi Floods 1927

8 DUST BOWL 1935

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10 Eve Balfour

11 Tom Williams Coal Miner UK Minister of Agriculture Agriculture Act De facto nationalisation by: - fixing prices - subsidising fertiliser - Mechanisation and pesticides - threat of dispossession to uncooperative farmers

12 Mycorrhizae

13 Mycorrhizal Networking

14 Actinomycetes and streptomyces Nature s antibiotics Actinomycetes Streptomyces

15 WHO NEEDS NEMATICIDE POISONS?

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17 Jasmonic Acid 9 fold increase with mycorrhizae

18 ANNUAL GLOBAL NITROGEN FIXATION Mtonnes N2 per year INDUSTRIAL Industrial (Haber-Bosch) ~50 Combustion ~20 TOTAL ~80 NATURAL Agricultural land ~90 Forest & non-agricultural land ~50 Lightning ~10 TOTAL ~150 Total Industrial and Natural: 230 M tonnes

19 We are losing 39 football fields a minute Volkert Engelsman - IFOAM

20 125 million hectares of land degraded every year 1.8% of available land lost to farming

21 Stop subsidies Put human health first Green Revolution had unintended consequences Genetic Engineering a problem, not a solution Little time left Protect our agricultural capital (soil) Support small farmers and diverse ecosystems Study and learn from traditional farming Reward farmers who prevent climate change

22 KYOTO PROTOCOL vs. COP 21 Kyoto Transportation excluded Agriculture excluded Paris Transportation included Agriculture included Agriculture and Transport generate 50% of total GHG emissions

23 CARBON FARMING EFFICIENCY Industrial Farm 12 calories of fossil fuel energy to produce 1 calorie of food Organic Farm 6 calories of fossil fuel energy to produce 1 calorie of food Farmer with a hoe 1 calorie of human energy to produce 20 calories of food Farmer with a hoe: 120 times more energy-efficient than an organic farmer 240 times more energy-efficient than an industrial farmer

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25 Rodale Institute 30 year trial results 1. Organic uses 45% less energy 2. Average yields match conventional (soybeans/corn) 3. C sequestration 1 MT/ha (3.7 T CO2/ha) per annum

26 We could sequester the equivalent of the anthropogenic carbon gas produced by humanity today. Storing carbon in the soil is organic matter in the soil, organic matter is fertilizing the soil. French Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll

27 BY LAW: CO2 price to be 56/tonne in cents/kg and 100/tonne in cents Kg

28 1997 Organic Wholegrain No GMOs One year after they were introduced Carbon Neutral Future Forests became The Carbon Neutral Company

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30 $100 million programme GHG emissions to be reduced by 28% 250,000 acres of supply chain to be organic by 2020

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32 Home Grown Cereals Authority

33 (Ignores antibiotics cost to human health)

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35 CO2 cost per Kg

36 Carbon pricing will drive down sugar usage Pre harvest burning of cane emits CO2, CO, NO2 and methane. Burning kills off soil microbes, leading to soil degradation CO2 cost: 2kgs CO2/per KG 330 ml: 44g sugar 355ml: 11g sugar Carbon tax of sugar at 56 tonne: 112 per tonne

37 Cacao Plantation Grown - No shade trees, loss of forest C - Nitrates NO2 emissions - Fungicides and pesticides - Soil C reduces Smallholder Grown - Shade trees increase forest C - No Nitrates - No fungicides or pesticides - Soil C increases

38 THE END OF FOOD BURNING NET ENERGY LOSS: CORN ETHANOL -50% PALM OIL BIODIESEL -8%

39 Farmers vs Architects Vancouver Woodscraper

40 Biochar What is it? Charcoal made to be used as a soil improver What does it do? Increases microbiological populations High surface area adsorbs mineral nutrients Reduces plant disease Reduces fertiliser use Help soils retain moisture Improves soil structure Reduces soil greenhouse gas emissions N2O Long term carbon sequestration

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42 Tegelbacken, Stockholm. Street trees before and after enriched biochar treatment

43 Who s Feeding the World? 70% of world s food grown on farms smaller than 5 hectares NO SUBSIDIES 30% of the world s food grown on industrial farms $350 Billion yearly SUBSIDIES

44 Pricing Carbon into the Food Supply Chain Craig Sams Director, Soil Association Certification Foodmatters Live November