International Symposium on Tropical Fruits, 22-24 October 2024
Carbon and water footprints in tropical fruit value chains
Side event organized by FAO and TFNet
[23 October 2024 at 2.30 pm, Corus Hotel, Kuala Lumpur]
Climate change mitigation supports value chain actors to address some of the key drivers of climate change and its impacts. By quantifying and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, farmers and companies can become more resource efficient, minimize waste and residues, reduce costs, enhance the resilience of their operations and contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation. Quantifying water use and reducing pollution can help ensure that sufficient, good quality water is available for both communities and businesses, while supporting climate action. Mitigating GHG emissions and water impacts can also support increasing business and brand reputation in markets.
In this context, FAO’s Responsible Fruits Project has produced the technical guide “Measuring carbon and water footprints in pineapple value chains”, which aims to develop the capacity of users and empower them to make their own carbon and water footprint calculations independently. The guide complements FAO’s work on banana footprints and other GHG inventory tools.
Side Event Objectives
- Provide an overview of what carbon and water footprint measurement is and why this is important to tropical fruit producers and companies.
- Introduce the carbon and water footprint measurement methodology for the pineapple sector.
- Share other FAO tools for carbon measurement.
- Highlight good practices and examples used in the tropical fruit industry to reduce GHG emission and water use and pollution.
- Identify capacity needs and challenges to measure carbon and water footprints in Asia-Pacific to inform future activities.
Participants:
- Actors along the pineapple and other tropical fruit value chains (as elements of the methodology are relevant to all tropical fruit value chains), including input suppliers, producers, producer and trade associations, importers, exporters and vertically integrated companies.
- Regulators and researchers from government agencies, research institutions and universities.
Workshop content:
- Climate change: challenges and opportunities for the tropical fruit sector
The section will explain how climate change is challenging production and what opportunities the agricultural sector presents to mitigate the drivers and effects.
- Carbon and water footprint measurement
This section will explain the importance of these exercises, including growing expectations by consumers and markets from producers and businesses to minimize carbon emissions and overuse of natural resources, like water, in the production and trade of tropical fruits. It will also touch on what a robust measurement process should look like, including scope, key steps and information required.
- FAO tools available to measure carbon and water footprints
Banana and pineapple CWF tools.
- Best practices to reduce emissions and water use and pollution
This section will present some options for reducing the carbon and water footprints, including waste and residues reduction and upcycling.
Introductory videos
Carbon footprint: https://youtu.be/APdrly9YyVs?si=_6rQAa2a0AyvUZyP
Water footprint: https://youtu.be/F1xH69V0q2s?si=JzkbHNh1-RQlSyym