Two sustainable development opinion papers have been produced by the International Institute for Environment & Development as part of the UN Climate Change Confernece in Bali, December 2007.
Miles better? How ‘fair miles' stack up in the sustainable supermarket
by Ben Garside, James MacGregor, Bill Vorley
In 2007, ‘food miles' shot to the top of consumer concerns in the UK. Buying goods that took the shortest route from farm to table was widely seen as a way of shrinking carbon footprints. This left airfreighted produce singled out as the epitome of unsustainable consumption, and some UK retailers began to label flown items such as green beans from Kenya. Yet looking at the bigger picture, fresh produce airfreighted from Africa accounts for less than 0.1 per cent of UK emissions, and per capita emissions from sub-Saharan Africa are minuscule compared to those in industrialised countries. Against this background are the million-plus African livelihoods supported by growing the produce. Within the grocery supply chain the time is ripe for ‘fair miles' - a working idea that puts development in the South on the environmental agenda, and allows UK retailers a more balanced response on behalf of their millions of customers.
Download at the link below.
Room to move: ‘ecological space' and emissions equity
James macGregor, Muyeye Chambwera
Tackling climate change will involve a monumental balancing act. How can we effectively curb emissions while ensuring that poor countries are not restricted in their efforts to develop sustainably? The concept of ‘ecological space' offers a viable solution. By measuring and comparing countries' greenhouse gas emissions, we can pinpoint their share of the total remaining emissions the planet can sustain without serious disruption to climate. The relatively low emissions of poor countries - and the per capita levels for the poorest are just 2 per cent of those in the US - allow them the ecological space for non-restrictive economic development. Overall, the concept is a workable guide to achieving emissions equity while collectively moving towards a low-carbon future.
Download at the link below
Miles better? How ‘fair miles' stack up in the sustainable supermarket (Fair Miles.pdf) [1]